


The Surgeon

by Athaia



Series: Planet of the Apes: Hunted [7]
Category: Planet of the Apes (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fan Reboot, Gen, Medical, PTSD, Post-Apocalypse, episode based
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-01-29 21:09:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 49,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12639228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athaia/pseuds/Athaia
Summary: When Virdon is shot and needs medical help, Galen remembers an old flame who he is sure will put her Healer’s Vow above the politics of the day. But when he meets up with her, her bitterness over their breakup and her prejudices against humans threaten to take priority over professional ethics...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the script by Barry Oringer
> 
> Perfected with the help of my fabulous beta Nay. All remaining mistakes are mine.

Night was creeping into day, dragging its darkness into it. Virdon couldn’t say if the sun had already risen; heavy clouds were crowding the sky, drawing a charcoal curtain over it. It had been raining for days now; everything was soaked through, their blankets, their shoes, their hair, but worst of all, the firewood. You could make fire from wet and green wood, but the result wasn’t worth it most of the time, so they ate their cold meals in silence and tried to ignore the damp discomfort of their camp.

The worst thing about it were the mosquitos. Even soaked to the skin as they were, the air wasn’t cold enough to make them shiver, but the heat and rains birthed billions of the little pests, and even Ango’s ointment couldn’t shield them completely from their attacks.

The tall monk had been very apologetic when he had broken the news to them. Apparently, Urko had thrown a big enough tantrum that even the temple elders had noticed, and Ango thought it was prudent that they left before said elders turned their attention to his guests. Virdon found it hard to disagree; he was deeply grateful that Melvin’s cousin had been willing to take them in at all. Pete had been too weakened, too badly injured, to have survived without the monastery’s physician and his herbal remedies.

Virdon threw a quick glance over his shoulder at his friend, who was trudging behind him on the narrow path between young alders with his head down, hands tightly gripping the straps of his backpack. Burke’s ribs were still not fully healed, and he was too thin and unable to pick up his usual light, quick runs to scout ahead; but what worried Virdon more was his uncharacteristic silence. He had missed Pete’s snark; he realized now that he had unconsciously assumed that it would return with him. But Pete had lost more than a few pounds in Urko’s dungeon.

„How far is it yet?“ he called ahead, over Zana’s shoulder; he tried to keep his voice low, just in case. „The sun must be rising any moment now.“

They had decided to travel by night again; with Burke still recovering, they couldn’t hope to outrun a patrol, so they had to opt for staying under the radar as much as possible.

Galen half turned without breaking his stride. „Not very far. But we need to cross the river - it’s on the other side of it.“

Virdon took a deep breath. „If that cave of yours is too close to it, it may be flooded. Those heavy rains have raised the river’s waterline for sure...“

„Don’t worry, Alan.“ Galen turned back to face ahead. „That cave is some distance away from the shore. I used to hide from my father there.“

„So you had a cave to hide in?“ Zana sounded amused, if a bit out of breath. „I had a tree I used to climb.“

„I know, dear. I once limped up that hill, praying I wouldn’t also have to climb into that tree after you.“ Galen stopped and propped his fists on his hips. „Mothers! You were right, Alan - that river has swollen quite a bit!“

The sky hadn’t really gotten any brighter, but Virdon could hear the loud rushing of a strong and fast current ahead of them. He pushed past Zana and stopped at Galen’s side. The grassy ground was sloping downward, but the water was covering most of the incline. He couldn’t even begin to guess where the actual riverbed was.

„We need to find a spot where we can safely cross,“ he said after a moment. „I assume there will be fords that take this state into account? After all, that rain season seems to be a regular occurrence.“

Galen sighed deeply. „Yes, there is a ford upriver, but it will cost us precious time to get there. My cave is actually right across the river.“ He pointed. „If we could cross it here, we’d reach it almost immediately.“

„Well, that’s impossible today, so I suggest we lose no more time.“ Virdon threw a last glance at the gurgling water that was shimmering faintly under the slowly paling sky. It was just another pebble in their shoes; just a small delay, nothing they couldn’t handle. Nothing he’d allow to frustrate him.

Galen led them along the soggy shore, ducking under dripping twigs and helping Zana over gaps in the embankment where the river had bitten out chunks of mud and grass. Virdon had taken the rear from Pete and was dividing his attention between the river and his friend who was rubbing his face with his sleeve almost constantly now. It was annoying to get rainwater in your eyes, yes, but Pete was almost frantic.

No, he _was_ frantic.

„You okay, Pete?“

Burke froze for a second. „Yeah, I’m good. ‘s just the damn water on my face. I hate that.“

Virdon remembered how Burke had swum in the lagoon every day, after their crash; he hadn’t had any problems with water back then.

 _Urko_. If in doubt about any of Burke’s problems, safely assume the gorilla was the source. Virdon ground his teeth, but said nothing; there wasn’t anything he could do or say now, anyway. They’d have to address this at some point, but right now wasn’t the right time.

Hell, it was never the right time, with Urko on their tail! And what could he really do? He wasn’t a therapist!

But this was worrying... and if he _didn’t_ address it, it might get worse. Still, Virdon felt woefully unequipped to tackle the subject of Burke’s developing idiosyncrasies.

The sky had greyed up when they finally reached what Galen claimed was the ford; Virdon couldn’t see any difference in the swift flow of the water, but trusted that the chimpanzee knew his way around, this close to the City. They were moving up north again, on a more eastern route than last time, but Virdon was expecting one of Urko’s death squads any moment; they were still deep in the gorilla’s dominion, no matter what route they chose.

He gestured to Galen to lead the way, and after a moment’s hesitation, Galen swung the leather bag with his prized book over his head to keep it safe from the water, and instructed Zana to hold on to his backpack and follow exactly in his steps.

Burke was next, but he just stood there, staring at the water. Virdon waited to see if he would find the point of take-off by himself, but that moment didn’t come.

„It’ll be easier to find your way if you stay close to Galen,“ he said finally. „Look, the water is only hip-deep here. Your feet will get wet, but not your face.“

He could see a blush creep into Pete’s pale face, and instantly regretted his last sentence - he hadn’t meant to embarrass the younger man. But with a last rub over his face, Burke determinedly splashed into the water and began to wade after the ape couple who had stopped to wait for them.

All went well until they had almost reached the opposite shore.

Pete slipped and crashed into the water so quickly that Virdon didn’t even flinch. He just stared at the spot where he had disappeared, expecting Pete’s dark head to surface any moment.

Instead, the water began to churn.

After a frozen moment, Virdon pounced on the struggling waves and hauled a wildly thrashing Burke on his feet. „It’s okay, Pete, you just slipped, I’ve got you, it’s okay, see, it’s okay...“

Virdon evaded a fist and grabbed him harder, pinned his arms into an iron clasp, then, when Burke didn’t stop struggling, drew him into a bear-hug. Burke doubled his efforts; Virdon could hear him panting, in heavy, rapid, wheezing breaths that sounded like a drowning man fighting for his life. It struck him that Burke still hadn’t realized that he was above the water, out of danger; he was trapped in a nightmare, and like a dreaming man, couldn’t hear that Virdon was calling out to him. „Pete! Pete, you’re safe! You can breathe! Pete, come on!“

Burke jerked his head back all of a sudden, and smashed his skull into Virdon’s face; if he hadn’t turned his head sideways, he’d have a broken nose now. His attacks changed, becoming focused, deadly; Virdon remembered that Burke had trained in all kinds of martial arts. Maybe it would be wiser to let him go before he shattered his knee.

Or smashed his throat. Right now, Burke didn’t recognize him. But if he let go now, Burke would just blindly race away and fall into the deeper waters along the ford, backpack and all. With his cracked ribs, and weakened by exhaustion, not to mention his disorientation, he’d drown before their eyes.

„Galen! Help me restrain him!“ It was the worst of all solutions, having an _ape_ use force against Pete, but-

Burke’s elbow hit the sweet spot right under his ribs, and Virdon’s knees buckled. His arms slipped off Burke’s waist as he was trying to breathe...

... and there Galen was, taking Burke into a chokehold that deserved its name; Virdon struggled to his feet in the brown, foaming water just as Burke’s legs gave out under him. He wasn’t completely out, just dazed enough for Galen to drag him the last steps to the shore. The ape let him gently down on the grass where he just sat, hugging his knees and shivering, from being soaked to the bone, or from exhaustion, Virdon couldn’t say. Probably both.

He crouched down beside him. „Pete? You know where you are?“

Burke was shivering harder now, muttering something through clattering teeth.

„Say again?“

„Can’t have... can’t have water on my face. ‘m sorry. Sorry...“

„You had a panic attack,“ Virdon said, making his voice as calm and reassuring as he could. „That’s nothing you can control. No need to feel ashamed. We’re all good. It’s all good.“

Burke just began to rub his face again; but his hands, his sleeves, were dripping with the river’s water, and after a moment of watching him becoming ever more hectic, Virdon unclasped his blanket from his backpack that had somehow stayed above the waterline and was merely damp, and handed it to him. „Put it around yourself after you've dried your face. You’re still in shock, you need to conserve your body heat.“ When Burke made no move to follow his instructions, he draped it over his shoulders himself.

„We need to reach the cave,“ Galen urged. „We already lost a lot of time, and the morning is already getting pretty late. The patrols will have left the watch houses by now.“

Virdon looked at the sorry heap of his friend, then up to Galen. „Just give us a few moments.“

Galen’s gaze rested on Burke for a second, then met his in silent understanding. „I’ll check on our provisions,“ he said. „We need to eat the ones that got soaked today, before they get mouldy.“ He bent down to take Burke’s backpack, retreated a few steps farther up the slope and shrugged off his own load. Virdon caught Zana’s worried look; then she turned around and vanished into the underbrush.

They had been granted their moment of privacy.

They stared out over the rushing river for a long time. Virdon’s mind was empty; he felt utterly exhausted. Whatever words he thought up sounded wrong. It was one of the few moments he fervently wished for a pastor, someone to offer words of wisdom and consolation. All he could offer was his company.

„What happened?“ he asked finally.

Burke didn’t turn his head; he continued to stare across the water. „You saw what happened. I freaked out.“

It was clear that he didn’t want to talk about it. Virdon grabbed his knees harder. „No. What happened... before?“

Burke didn’t answer, and Virdon’s unease deepened. He had overstepped a boundary here, and after what had happened, Burke’s boundaries were something to be utterly respected at all times...

„He drowned me in a bucket.“ It was said so low that Virdon at first thought he’d imagined it. Pete sniffed. „Well, tried to, at least.“

There was another long silence, while Virdon desperately cast around for something to say. Then Burke laughed, a sudden, brittle sound. „Was the piss bucket. Luckily there was no piss in it.“ He took a slow, trembling breath. „Din’ have the energy to crawl over to use it anymore.“ His voice was barely audible above the rushing water.

„An’ I don’ think I even had piss left in me, they never gave me anything to drink... what an irony, huh, you’d think after almost dying of thirst I’d be the biggest fan of water on the planet. Instead I’m terrified of it. Even this rain...“ He rubbed his face again, a slow, tired wipe, „Can’t stand having water running over my face, it makes me...“ He exhaled heavily. „Dizzy, somehow. I dunno where I am anymore, an’ I can’t keep my balance anymore...“

He paused. Virdon listened. It seemed to be the thing that was most important now, to listen, with rapt attention, to listen to this account, to receive all this pain, to suffer it, to share it, maybe... maybe to carry it for a bit, so that Pete could breathe again. Not struggle for air so violently because the memory had trapped him in an iron grip, like he had, a few moments ago.

„I used to go diving. Even with all the pollution and dying reefs, it was still gorgeous down there. Not as silent as all those Cousteau films make you believe, but it’s another world alright.“ Burke laughed again, the same bitter sound, brittle and shaky. „Now I’m pissing myself when it rains on my face.“ He rubbed his eyes.

„An’ I wonder... I wonder how many other things I won’t be able to do, things I don’t even know of yet. What little thing will set me off next, and... what if I freak out in the middle of a run? Or while we’re hiding from a patrol?“ Despair was sharp in his voice now. „I’ll endanger all of you. I’m a liability.“ He inhaled shakily. „You should’ve let him go through with it.“

For the first time since they had sat down on the soggy shore, Virdon didn’t have to search for words. „Never in a million years.“

„I was okay with it, y’know?“ Burke was still not looking at him. „He told me what they were gonna do to me, an’ I... it would’ve been over either way. An’ I was so...

„I was _done._ I was ready, really ready to die, or to... to vanish.“ He laid his head on his knees and sighed, an utterly exhausted sound.

Virdon put his arm around his shoulders. The bones were poking into his flesh - he’d have to have a close eye on Pete’s meals in the future. „None of us were ready for you to die. Zana...“

He felt Burke’s shoulders tense. „Zana loves you, Pete. Not romantically, of course, but not like I loved the dog I had as a boy, either. She loves you like a brother. Not all of them are like Urko.“

Burke sniffed. „Nah, don’t fool yourself, Al. Zana’s an anomaly.“ He turned around, and the look in his eyes was at once mocking and ... something else. Despairing?

„An’ how about you, Al? Do you love me?“

Virdon calmly returned his gaze. „Like a brother.“

Burke stared at him. Then he swallowed heavily

Virdon continued in the same deadpan voice. „An obnoxious, loud-mouthed, binge-drinking, ladykiller younger brother who nabs Dad’s car keys and then calls me at 3 am to haul his sorry ass home, and begs me to protect him from Dad’s wrath when he’ll discover that he totaled the car.“

Burke coughed a laugh at that, although Virdon thought he could hear some tears in that laugh. He said nothing, just shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Then Zana was there all of a sudden. „Here, Pete, I made this for you. So that your face doesn’t get wet anymore.“

She held a hat in her hands, hastily woven from twigs and rushes. Burke stared up at her for a moment, slack-mouthed, and Virdon was sure he could see tears now in the corners of his eyes, but then Burke quickly ducked his head and slammed the hat on. „Thanks, Zana.“

Maybe he had imagined it.

They got up, Galen handed Burke his backpack, and Virdon rolled up his blanket that he’d hopefully unroll again in a few minutes in that cave; he was ready to sleep, damp fabric or not.

Galen suddenly froze, staring over Pete’s shoulder.

_„Patrol!“_

They all turned to run, a reflex trained into them by now, trying to vanish into the thicket, where they would be hidden, and the horses couldn’t easily follow.

Shots cracked, and suddenly a hot pain slammed into Virdon's right hip, and his leg gave out under him as if it was made of wood. He fell, crashing into the underwood like a wounded deer.

Behind him, he could hear the triumphant whoops of the apes.

* * *

For a long moment, the world tilted sideways and slowed down, and Zana was hit by a dizzying sensation of unreality. She was back on the road, running through the underbrush without getting ahead, and any moment now, she’d see Peet being crowded by a pack of black uniforms, drawn under, dragged away into the darkness of Urko’s horrors...

Then a shot cracked, and the world sped up again, and Alan fell on his side, broke down silently, his eyes huge and dark.

The cry that ripped through the trees was Peet’s.

It had no words; she wasn’t even sure if Peet was aware of the sound he was making, raw and wild, like a wounded animal. He was sprinting towards Alan, who still lay there as if he couldn’t believe what had happened to him, and slung his arm over his shoulder, then tried to pull him to his feet. Alan struggled up, but broke down again at once, his leg twisting inward as if it was paralyzed. Peet, still grabbing his wrist, was dragged down with him, a frustrated groan escaping from his mouth.

At the opposite shore, the officers were urging their horses into the water.

Zana blinked, trying to chase the fog in her mind away. Peet’s ribs hadn’t healed yet; he wouldn’t be able to carry his friend to safety. It hit her then - his groan hadn’t been one of frustration, but of pain.

Suddenly her own paralysis lifted; she whirled around to Galen, who stood there gaping at Alan, just as she had been a moment ago. „You need to help Alan! Peet can’t carry him... quick, the patrol is already crossing the ford!“

She impatiently tugged at his sleeve when he didn’t react, and after a moment, he blinked at her, shoved his leather bag into her arms and broke into a run towards where the humans were still struggling to get up from the ground. Zana watched, the bag hugged tightly against her chest, as he shoved Peet aside and slung Alan over his shoulder. He staggered a bit when he straightened to stand up; although apes were a lot stronger than humans, Alan was a full grown male, and not exactly a lightweight.

She flinched at the barrage of splashing sounds coming from the river, her heart picking up speed as if it wanted to urge her to follow it and run, run, run. Her chest was tight; this was like their last, doomed flight off the road, all over again, only this time it was Alan they’d get, not Peet.

Or maybe this time, they’d get all of them.

Galen was jogging up to her, already panting under Alan’s weight. Alan was limp and silent, although he had seemed conscious a moment ago, maybe he was in shock. Maybe she was in shock, thinking too much, still glued to the spot-

Peet grabbed her arm in passing and tore her around, gave her a tug in the right direction, then let go immediately. She finally broke into a run, last of their group, throwing panicked glances behind her. Right now, she couldn’t see the patrol anymore, but there was no doubt inside her that they would force their mounts through the thickets, just like they had forced them into the swollen river. She could only hope that the horses would put up enough resistance to slow them down, so that they could shake them off.

She hoped they’d be able to shake them off. With Alan’s weight adding to his own, Galen’s footprints would be deeper, clearly visible even for an untrained eye. And after all this rain, the ground was soft like wet clay, ready to be imprinted with the story of their flight.

She didn’t know how long she’d be able to bear those frequent frights, those moments of terror and desperate races for cover, the constant tension, always expecting a sudden attack to shatter another deceptively peaceful moment...

Galen suddenly ducked to the right and was gone. It happened so quickly that both she and Peet stopped in their tracks, dumbfounded. Behind them, sounds of splintering wood announced that the patrol was closing in. Peet’s gaze flickered across the path; he was as confused as she was. She half expected him to curse and make a smart-assed comment, but he kept silent, his lips tightened into a thin line.

And then something grabbed her and dragged her through the veil of leaves. Zana stifled a cry as she realized, twigs whipping into her face, that it had to be Galen who was whisking her away from the path, out of sight of the patrol, and into a murky, grey darkness. A moment later, Peet joined them; he had found his way without Galen’s help, simply following her. Zana suspected that Galen had been wise enough not to manhandle him; Peet couldn’t bear the touch of an ape anymore.

Not even from her.

Galen sent them further inside, to the back of the cave, and she and Peet half dragged, half supported Alan, while Galen fumbled with the greenery to cover the entrance once more. They all froze when hoofbeats suddenly thundered by; but they didn’t stop, and after a moment, they were gone in the distance.

„They’ll circle back as soon as they realize that they’ve lost the trail.“ Burke’s voice was a harsh whisper, echoing sharply from the stone walls.

„Well, what do you suggest?“ Galen’s whisper was quieter, but no less sharp. „That we break our cover and run around in the bushes some more? With Alan slung over my shoulder like a dead fox? This cave is our best hope to survive this-“

Alan’s moan cut him short; every face turned towards the entrance as they strained their ears for any sound that would announce they had been heard.

„Fuck those monkeys,“ Peet muttered hoarsely, „we need to patch up Al before he loses too much blood. Need to see where he’s been hit, an’ clean the wound...“ Zana saw his head turn in the half-light, searching for a spot that would make a more comfortable bed for his friend.

„There is a smaller room in the back,“ Galen whispered, and led them deeper into the cave. He and Peet were now supporting Alan from either side, and Zana followed them, trying to get her nerves under control. Outside was deadly now; as much as she hated underground dwellings, she had to be grateful that Galen had discovered this little sanctuary as a boy. Hopefully, none of the local police officers had ever played here as a child.

The ‘room’ was a narrow compartment with a low ceiling that hovered no more than a finger’s breadth over their heads; Peet couldn’t stand upright under it. It didn’t matter right now - he was crouching at Alan’s side, trying to determine where his friend had been hit.

„If you wait just another moment, I’ll make a fire,“ Galen said. „There should be a stack of firewood over... ah, there it is.“ He ducked into the darkest corner of the compartment and returned with an armful of firewood. „Dry as professor Zuna’s lectures.“

Dry wood - no smoke, and more importantly, it would give off palpable heat. They’d be able to dry their clothes, themselves, and their bedrolls, cook some food, _make tea..._

If only Alan hadn’t been shot, it could’ve been a really nice retreat. Now, the water simmering over their small campfire would be used to clean his wound. Zana dumped a generous spoonful of Ango’s fever mixture into it. Peet had dragged down Alan’s pants and instructed him to roll on his side. He didn’t like what he saw.

„No exit wound. That means the damn thing is lodged somewhere in your hip.“

Alan’s face was pale in the firelight. „If it had exited, it’d have shattered the bone. I was lucky.“

Peet snorted. „Yeah, damn lucky. It’s a miracle they hit you at all from that distance. That bastard was a good shot.“ It didn’t sound approving.

Zana strained the decoction through a filtering cloth and shuffled over to the humans. Peet was probing pressure points on Alan’s right leg. „Do you feel that?“

„Yeah.“

„And that?“

„Yeah...“

„And that?“

Alan hesitated. Peet pressed his finger deeper into his muscle. „Barely,“ Alan finally admitted.

Zana saw Peet swallow. „The bullet must be near a nerve. If it moves...“

She didn’t have to ask if that was bad. Zana bent down and offered the mug to Alan. „This is for preventing a fever, Alan. We’ll take the rest to clean your wound. It’s bad enough already, no need to let it get infected.“

Alan took the mug and sniffed at the steam rising from it. „It smells like chamomille.“

„It’s a mixture of different-“

„Chamomille for a bullet wound!“ Peet scoffed. „That’s like prescribing chicken soup for the bubonic plague!“ But he took the bowl and started to clean Alan’s wound.

„We need to get you to a hospital, Al,“ he said after a moment of tense silence. „This ain’t something that will get better by itself. And you need your leg, if we wanna have any chance to get to the mountains.“

„Sure, Pete.“ Alan’s voice was low, but sharp with sarcasm. „We just walk into an ape hospital and fill out the application blank. Urko’s men would be all over the place before you can say ‘no insurance’.“ He took another sip of the tea; Zana could hear his teeth clatter against the rim of the mug.

„There’s a medical center at the northern outskirts of the City,“ Galen remarked. He was spreading their damp clothes and bedrolls around the fire. Small as it was, it had heated the cramped compartment remarkably quickly.

„You’re not suggesting we go _back?“_ Alan sounded incredulous. No, Zana decided after a moment - he sounded desperate. The City was clinging to them like one of those magnetite globes children used to play with, forcing them to return to it again and again.

„How good is that center?“ Peet asked. The idea of going back had to be worse for him, but his face was expressionless.

Galen had filled the kettle again and set it over the fire. „The best in the world - this world.“

„I’m not letting you stick your necks out,“ Virdon protested. „I’ll take my chances that this bullet will settle in a noncritical spot if I give it time and rest.“

„Save your breath, Al,“ Peet said tersely. „Say we get to this place, Galen.“ He paused, and an unreadable expression flickered over his face. „The apes don’t reserve their best medical aid for humans.“

Zana wondered if he was thinking of the medical experimentation he had narrowly escaped, or if he had been treated... _mis_ treated by one of the police medics during his capture. She had no idea what had happened there. Peet kept her at a distance since his return, and she had never found the right opportunity to ask.

„I know the chief surgeon at the center,“ Galen said, his attention focused on making tea. „She’s an old friend. She’ll help us.“ Zana narrowed her eyes - she wasn’t fooled by his casual demeanour.

Peet shook his head. „Is there someone you _don’t_ know?“

„Whoever that surgeon is, she has no reason to help us,“ Alan ground out. His whole body was tense, from pain or distress over his friends’ dangerous plans. „I doubt that all your friends are as eccentric as Melvin. We’re enemies of the state!“

Galen straightened and met his gaze. „Kira is a physician, she doesn’t care about politics. Even if she knew about you, she wouldn’t turn her back on you. She has sworn a healer’s oath to treat everyone who needs medical help.“

Alan stared at him, his fingers white around the mug. „I’m sure that oath refers only to apes, Galen - not to animals.“

For a moment, nobody spoke. Something dark and tight melted in Zana’s chest; she felt warm, and soft, and wide, as if she could inhale, and inhale, and never stop. Galen had grouped Alan on the „person“ side of the abyss; and he had done so without even being aware of it. She wanted to hug him, to kiss him, to laugh like a macaque, but she kept her body still and her face straight. The giddiness was bubbling inside her like fermenting honey.

Galen, on the other hand, was flustered. „Ah, ah... uhm... she’ll do it anyway,“ he finally managed. He stood, tea forgotten. „We... we’re still the best of friends. She’ll do it for old times’ sake.“

The bubbling inside Zana’s chest simmered down a bit; for a moment, it had seemed as if Galen had wanted to say something else. What was the name of the surgeon again? She thought she might have heard it before, somewhere. But she couldn’t put her finger on it.

„We have no other choice,“ Peet decided. He nodded at Galen. „You think it’s safe to go? The patrol could still be sniffing around somewhere.“

Galen shrugged. „Don’t worry about me. I know this place inside and out, I came here almost every week as a boy. And don’t worry about Kira - I’m an expert in female psychology; she won’t let me down.“ He ducked out of the cave before anyone could protest.

He hadn’t even said his goodbye to her. Zana crouched down at the fire and poured herself a mug of tea. The first sip burned her tongue, but didn’t dissipate the cold that was spreading inside her. Peet was dragging Alan’s soaked pants off and hung them over the stack of firewood to dry. „An expert in female psychology, huh?“ he said, not looking at her. „Can you confirm?“

Zana didn’t answer. Peet’s tone lacked his usual friendly teasing note, and she didn’t want to examine that change or its meaning right now. Something else was vying for her attention - she had finally remembered where she had heard that name before. It had been in Yalu’s house, at that first, horrible dinner with Galen’s parents. Kira had been Galen’s first love - the woman he had wanted to marry. And just now, he had been awfully eager to meet her again.

She, on the other hand, wasn’t eager to meet Kira at all.

* * *

Using hot water for washing up was being frowned upon, and for good reason. In a hospital, one had to wash one's hands so often that the skin was inevitably getting dry and itchy; no need to hasten that process by using hot water. But today, Kira allowed herself to indulge in that unhealthy luxury. It had been the last surgery of the day, and her bones were aching. They had been standing in there for hours, fighting for the little boy’s life, trying to urge his blood to flow into the right direction through the liver, closing holes in the blood vessels that had caused it to take wrong turns.

In the end, her efforts had been in vain.

If she had succeeded, she’d have been the first physician to ever have accomplished that feat. She’d be circling the conferences, give lectures, be made immortal in surgery textbooks.

Most importantly, she wouldn’t have to face the boy’s parents. Wouldn’t have to witness them breaking down in each other’s arms.

„Kira.“

She started, shaken out of her depression by the deep, smooth voice. She turned her head and smiled at Leander, director of Mauris Medical Center, chief resident, and probably her fiancé... if everything went well.

Right now, her hopefully-soon-fiancé leaned in the doorframe, regarding her with a mixture of admiration and pride for his own accomplishment. „I watched the operation. You did a brilliant job.“

Leander reminded her of a big, silky-haired tomcat, one that had never known anything else in life but the sweet taste of cream and salmon and the admiration of his court. Kira didn’t mind his vanity - it was useful if you remembered to stroke it occasionally - but today, she didn’t feel like bathing in the glory of his mentorship.

„ _Technically_ brilliant, yes - the patient still died.“ She shook the water from her hands and turned to leave. But Leander didn’t move in the doorframe, so she just leaned against the basin.

„The operation was a success,“ Leander insisted. „The surgical knowledge we gain from these failures will someday help other patients... and surgeons.“

„And how many children will I have to go through until we can save apekind?“ With a huff, Kira pushed away from the sink, determined to get away from the place of her defeat. She shouldn’t snap at him like that - infatuation aside, he was still her superior. But she couldn’t get that tiny face out of her mind. Her job would be much easier if she didn’t have to visit her patients before surgery.

Thankfully, Leander gave way and let her through. He fell into step beside her as she made her way back to her office. „You think I’m cruel?“ His smile was infectious, and Kira felt her heart melt again. She never could stay mad at him for long. „You can tell me.“

„Tell the truth to my superior?“ she said with mock horror. „I could get fired for such recklessness.“

Leander took her hand. „Only a fool would fire his best... and most beautiful surgeon.“ As much as he loved being admired, her boss had always been generous with praise for her, too, both for her professional and her personal assets. Kira didn’t mind - Leander was smart, skilled at his job both as surgeon and administrator, and he knew what he wanted. He was... sure of himself. Accomplished. She had learned to value those qualities.

„I’ll see you at the conference tomorrow night, won’t I?“ he asked casually.

Kira frowned. If there was a conference, she had totally forgotten about it. Well, considering her workload, it was a miracle she remembered her own name some days. „What conference?“

„A private lecture I’m giving,“ Leander said innocently, „on the therapeutic virtues of vegetable casserole and apricot wine. I’m holding it in my apartment, at eight.“

It was the closest thing they had to a date night. Neither of their schedules allowed for a night in town, not without major logistical efforts. Kira felt a smile tug at her cheeks, but she heroically kept it under control. „Is attendance mandatory?“

Leander’s voice dropped another octave. „Only for you.“

Now she allowed that smile to show. „In that case, I’ll be there.“

They couldn’t kiss in the corridor, not in front of the staff and the human that was sweeping the floor. She quickly squeezed Leander’s arm before she stepped into her office. Downtime was over; she had a mountain of paperwork waiting for her... after she had that talk with the parents. They had sent a human to fetch them, as they never allowed family to wait in the corridors, a rule that she had insisted on; it didn’t do them any good, and the knowledge that they were hovering at the other side of the door to the operation room set her teeth on edge. It wouldn’t be long now before they would arrive-

There was a flower on her desk.

Leander sometimes sent her flowers, but not this kind. Kira slowly reached for the thick stem. The flower’s sweet, heavy scent filled the whole room; why hadn’t she noticed it sooner? She pressed her lips together as she regarded the deep violet petals. Picked from the marshes, not bought in a flower shop. Only one man had ever given her dragon flowers.

„Hello.“

She didn’t look up. „As simple as that.“

Then she lifted her gaze to him and tilted the flower in her hand. „This to remind me, a casual ‘hello’, and everything else is forgotten.“ She didn’t feel angry; she was too dazed to be angry.

He looked... no, not older. More serious. Less insecure. As infuriatingly mellow as always. The smile didn’t reach his eyes. „Not everything...“

She turned her back to him and dropped the flower on her desk. „Go away, Galen.“

„I came here for help...“

Of course. Of course he hadn’t come for her. Why did she feel a spark of anger at that? _She_ had broken up with him back then, _she_ had moved on, _she_ had allowed Leander’s advances, _she_ had given up on Galen. „You’re a criminal and a traitor.“

„You don’t really think that.“ He didn’t raise his voice. Kira wished he’d get angry only once, passionate about something only once, worth a challenge only once. She whirled around. „What else would I think? Galen, I don’t want to argue.“ It was too annoying to argue with him, like fighting in the fog. „It’s too dangerous for you here. Please go away.“

He took a step towards her and she retreated, bumping into her desk. Galen stopped, his face unreadable. If he thought she was afraid of _him..._

„One of my friends is hurt,“ he said finally.

„The only friends you have left are _humans!“_ She hurled it against him like a personal insult, but he didn’t flinch. It was just like in the bad old times - nothing she used against him worked. Kira clenched her teeth in frustration.

„He may die if you don’t help.“ Now his tone was pleading. Galen pleading for a human! She didn’t know if she should laugh or snarl with disgust.

„Why should I care if a human dies?“ _Why should I care if it hurts you? Maybe I only care_ that _it hurts you._

„If for no other reason, because I care - a very great deal.“ She saw that he was serious, saw it in his eyes, dark and worried; they were pinning her down, demanding her to give in, to treat the wildling pet of a criminal, to endanger her career, Leander’s career, both of her futures...

... for old times’ sake. She wanted to spit in his face.

Instead she clenched her fists so tightly that she felt her fingernails bite into her palms. „I don’t know you. You’re a stranger, a renegade, who... who chose to _live with humans!“_

Galen closed his eyes for a moment at that slur, but he still refused to rise to the bait. „Is that such a dreadful crime?“

She understood that he had chosen to react to the literal meaning of her words; it made her feel embarrassed at herself, and furious at him. „I should call the police.“

„They’d kill me.“

The bluntness of his words stopped her in her tracks. They stared at each other for a long moment, while the silence between them grew thick and poisonous.

_How did we ever love each other?_

„They’d be doing justice,“ she said, but her voice was brittle and weak. _Please go away._

Galen said nothing for a long time. When he did, his voice was low and terribly calm. „I loved you. To hear these words from you now...“ He looked away, the first time since had stepped out from behind the curtains, and Kira found she could breathe again. „I’m sorry I came.“ He turned to the window.

He had to have climbed into her office through it. She would have to talk to Travin, have some bars installed... „Galen.“

He turned back, wary. She blinked at him. She had no idea what she had wanted to say to him.

Then the words came tumbling out of her mouth, from whatever dark corner of her heart. „You were a normal, law-abiding ape once, Galen. What _happened_ to you?“

Galen leaned against the windowsill, a spark of the old irony appearing in his eyes. „I had a terrible accident. I collided with the truth.“

„And what truth would that be? That apes and humans are created equal?“

His eyes became hooded. „Among other things.“

Kira rubbed her burning eyes. She was so tired. She had a grieving couple waiting for her - no, right now, it was a desperately hopeful couple. She had her lover planning his romantic dinner for her, while her ex-lover was trying to cajole her into blowing up her future.

_This isn’t fair._

„You really believe that?“

„Yes.“ And he did. She could hear it in the finality of his tone, see it in the seriousness in his eyes. So simple.

So deadly.

„And to help you, I must help them?“

Galen hesitated. „They are my brothers now.“ He sounded astonished, as if it was something that he had realized in the very moment he’d said it.

This at least was a trait she recognized - that digging in when he managed to get hold of something he _could_ believe in, those rare shreds of truth that he stubbornly clung to, as if he’d be lost without them. It all came back now; Kira could feel the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

_Damn you!_

„I thought I had forgotten you, that I had a chance to find a new happiness.“ She refused to cry, even if it were tears of fury. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. „I should’ve known you’d come back to destroy that chance!“

She’d never be free of him.

* * *

When Galen returned, both Zana and Alan were sleeping by the fire, Alan fitfully, Zana quiet like a stone. Peet however moved into a crouch with a fluid motion that reminded him of a bushcat; even his eyes were as dark and intent as that of the beast when it was focused on its unwitting prey.

Then he relaxed. „What took so long?“ He kept his voice low so as not to wake the others.

Galen let the bag slide from his shoulder. „I had to pick up a medical degree.“ He bent down and opened the bag. „This is for the renowned specialist, Dr. Kova.“ He held up a physician’s coat. „And this is for his faithful servant. That would be you.“ He tossed an orderly’s uniform to him, and the human caught it by reflex. Then he frowned.

„So I’m gonna have to call you ‘master’ again?“

Galen pinched the bridge of his nose. „I’m afraid so. Peet, I didn’t make this world. I just live in it, just like you.“

Peet’s fists were gripping the fabric. „I’d say you live a lot more comfortably in it than me, buddy.“

He wouldn’t get upset with Peet. The human had been through a lot. Still, Galen glanced meaningfully at their surroundings. „You think so?“

Peet took a deep breath. „Yeah, not... not at the moment, I’ll grant you that.“ He raked his hand through his hair, a gesture that, as Zana had told him, indicated stress. „They should call you The Phantom - The Ape Of A Thousand Disguises.“

It was clear that he was attempting to lighten the mood, and Galen was glad to join in the banter. „That talent was quite handy when we stole you from _another_ hospital not too long ago.“ A wild mixture of pride and terror still made him tremble with that memory.

_„It was just a fucking joke, okay?“_

Galen blinked. Peet was staring at him over the small fire, his eyes black holes in a white face. „I just made a joke, I didn’t make fun _of_ you, you don’t have to push my nose in how this super awesome talent of yours saved my sorry ass at every fucking opportunity! I’m grateful, massa, I’m deeply grateful! Are you happy now? Jesus fucking Christ!“ He hurled the uniform into the darkness behind the fire and stormed out, his shoulder connecting painfully with Galen’s as he brushed past him.

For a moment, Galen was too stunned to move, to think.

Zana sat up with a groggy moan. „What just happened?“ she asked, rubbing her eyes. „I thought I heard Peet yell...“

„I don’t have the slightest idea.“ He quickly recapped their conversation. „I’m trying to find the thing that made him so angry, but I can’t find it. I didn’t mean to... to embarrass him, or imply that he owes me something...“ He felt shaken; that outburst of fury and humiliation had come so unexpected. He remembered Melvin in his kitchen, then quickly discarded the memory.

„Where is he now?“ Zana stretched and tilted the kettle to peer inside. She let go with a dismayed sigh, and he felt slightly guilty, but he hadn’t had an opportunity to refill, and he had totally forgotten about it over that strange fight...

„He ran outside. One of us should probably go and, and calm him down.“

Both their heads turned to Alan; he was a fellow human, and he held some sort of authority over Peet, and it was clear that Peet trusted him more than he trusted either of them...

„I’ll go,“ Zana said. „I can refill our kettle while I’m outside.“ Her gaze fell on the crumpled uniforms on the floor. „We’ll at least have tea before we leave.“ She quickly squeezed his shoulder in passing. „You did nothing wrong, dear. Peet is... he’s become a bit fey. He’ll get better, we just have to be patient.“

He hoped so. Melvin’s warning was still vivid in his mind.

Galen bent down to pick up the orderly uniform; for his plan to work, Peet had to be brought to heel somehow. How in the world he was going to do that without setting off another fit of rage, he had no-

„Yet another costume?“

Galen threw a wary look over his shoulder, but Alan was just amused, not offended like his younger friend. He was propped up on one elbow, his face pale, but not too pinched from pain. Apparently, Ango’s tea was doing at least some good. Galen suspected that there was something much stronger in it than just chamomille... the herb did a good job to conceal other flavours.

He shrugged. „We can’t very well turn up there as ourselves. Even Kira was aware of the bounty on my head.“

Alan frowned. „And she still agreed to help you?“

„She did.“ For reasons he still didn’t understand.

Alan exhaled and let himself sink back into the blankets. „Even if this crazy masquerade works, that hospital is miles away. I can barely stand up, let alone walk that distance - I’d never make it.“

„I’ve worn crazier costumes,“ Galen said dryly, remembering his stint as street vendor. „And a patient of your eminence shouldn’t have to walk at all.“ He winked at Alan, which only deepened the human’s frown.

„What are you up to now?“

Galen sniffed. „Drink your tea and leave the rest to me.“ He stood and hurried outside before Alan could probe some more. He was pretty sure the human wouldn’t approve of his plan.

He was also sure that the _other_ human at his disposal wouldn’t have any objections to his plan, but that was actually the worrisome part about the whole business. Peet was still outside, thumbs tucked into his belt, staring into the greenery. Zana was nowhere to be seen.

„She’s gone to the well.“ Peet didn’t even turn his head. His jaw was set, his shoulders tense. Galen suppressed a sigh. He had done nothing wrong, but this wasn’t the time to insist on fairness. One of them had to be the greater person. Right now, he was annoyed enough to not even grant Peet that status. Mothers, he wasn’t going to spat with a _human!_

„It was not my intention to anger you,“ he said quietly. „It’s not easy for me to pretend to be someone else... I was just glad it had worked so well the last time. I hope it will work as well now... for Alan’s sake.“

Maybe it was also not fair to invoke Alan, but it worked: Peet closed his eyes and sighed deeply, and the tension left him on the exhale, drooping his shoulders. „Sorry I blew up like that,“ he mumbled.

Galen dismissed the apology with a wave of his hand. „What’s more important, I need your help. Alan can’t walk, and I can’t carry him the whole way. Besides, it wouldn’t fit with my role. An ape doesn’t carry his servant.“

Peet eyed him warily. „So you wanna steal a cart?“

Galen smiled. „No, I want to rob one.“

Peet stared at him. Then a slow smile spread over his face. „Nice. So what do you need me for?“

Galen moved to take his elbow, then thought better of it and just gestured him to follow him down the path towards the main road. „I need you for robbing the cart. It won’t be long before word of that crime reaches Urko, and it’s best if it doesn’t mention an ape and a human working together. Even if it only buys us an hour...“

Peet snorted. „Sure. Whatever you say. I’ll rob that cart for you, under one condition.“

Of course. Dreading the answer, Galen asked, „What condition?“

„I’ll get your knife. - No, I’m not gonna kill anyone,“ Peet held up a hand to stop his protest, „but I need a stronger argument than just my and that guy’s shared humanity. We aren’t all brothers, y’know?“

 _Mistreated humans can get dangerous._ He was in Melvin’s kitchen again, smelling the sharp aroma of garlic and pepper. „What if it’s an ape?“

„Then I wait for the next cart,“ Peet’s face went blank. Shuttered. „I’m not gonna rob an ape’s cart. Besides,“ he added after a moment of tense silence, „guess if a human reports his cart got stolen it won’t have as high priority as when an ape complains.“

It wasn’t the real reason he refused to come near an ape, Galen suspected, but nevertheless a valid one. They had to utilize every little advantage they could get.

Which meant he had to trust this fey human with his knife. So that they could save another human.

_I must be completely out of my mind._

He wordlessly handed over the knife. Peet took it and vanished into the thicket.

Galen watched him flag down one of the empty carts leaving the City, smile up at the driver while he probably asked for a ride, and smile as he held the blade against the other’s throat.

_How could I ever call them brothers?_

He had done it to throw Kira off balance. Galen’s nose twitched as he thought back to their encounter in her office. To stun her into agreeing to help him, to convince her that he was serious about this human.

And he had been, hadn’t he? He absently watched as Peet escorted the human away from the road and into the underbrush, and out of sight. He really liked Alan, who was calmer, more stable, more reasonable-

He remembered Alan’s eyes when he had been on the hunt for Peet.

_Beware the beast Man, for it is the harbinger of death..._

No, apes and humans could never be brothers.

Peet returned, turned the cart around and waved impatiently for him to leave his cover. With a sigh, Galen came to his feet.

Time to give the stage to Dr. Kova.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a lovely dinner.

Leander had outdone himself - the table was covered with heavy white linen and lightened by two beeswax candles, mingling the scent of honey with the aromas of the casserole. The pastel shade of apricot wine that he was swirling in his glass tinted Leander’s face as he studied her thoughtfully from across the table. „You don’t seem to be very excited about the casserole. Did I put in too much honey?“

Kira hastily shoved a forkful of steamed vegetables into her mouth. „It’s delicious.“ She much preferred meat. That new fad of vegetarianism among Chimpanzees was nothing but a blatant - and embarrassing - attempt to appear sophisticated. Just because Orangutans were vegetarians... „Really, it is. I’m just not very hungry tonight.“

„Are you still brooding over today’s surgery?“

She wasn’t; she had learned long ago not to dwell on failures, recent or... not so recent. But it was probably wise to utilize the opening he had offered her; a rejection of Leander’s creations could easily be taken as a rejection of Leander himself. He was touchy in that regard.

So, she was brooding over _something._ Not the surgery; she didn’t want to think about the boy now.

„I was thinking about that orderly we sent to labour camp to be disciplined for stealing.“ She tossed out the first thing that came to mind. Leander raised his brows.

Why had the first thing to come to her mind to be a _human?_

Galen.

_Damn you._

But now she had raised the subject, she couldn’t just drop it. Leander was still waiting for the point she was about to make.

_Mothers! If only I knew what point I wanted to make!_

“... was it really necessary to treat it so harshly?“ She felt her palms get sweaty with embarrassment. „I just wonder...“ she added lamely.

Leander took a sip from his wine before he answered her. „It behaved like an unruly beast,“ he said at last. „Like an unruly beast, it was punished. Where is the harshness?“

Yes, where indeed. Kira took a sip from her wine, remembering how they had caught the human stealing drugs against fever from the dispensary; it had claimed it was for a family member back in the human settlement. A sister or a daughter, she couldn’t remember.

It had actually been pretty intelligent to observe which bottles were used for which ailment, and then to correctly deduce that the same globuli could also help its own pack against similar illnesses. „But are humans nothing more than beasts?“

The human had pleaded, not for mercy for itself; it had begged her to send some more of the medicine to its village. She had forgotten about it as soon as the guards had taken it away. Kira took another sip from her wine, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden.

„They can be useful animals, at their best,“ Leander conceded. „But they need a firm and sometimes even harsh hand. At their worst, they are carriers of hatred and destruction.“

It wasn’t intelligence that separated ape from animal; it wasn’t even speech. It was the ability to abide by higher principles, to grasp the concept of values like honor and love.

But hadn’t the human loved its family, so much so even that it had risked severe punishment?

No, Kira decided. All animals cared for and protected their litter. It was instinct, nothing more. „Harbingers of Death, that must be stomped out?“

„Of course.“ Leander eyed her over the rim of his glass as if he was wondering... she had no idea what he was thinking. Maybe he wondered if she was considering getting a human as a pet.

A knock at the door released her from his searching gaze. „Come in.“

A young Chimpanzee stuck his head in; Dr. Stole, the new intern. He wisely didn’t dare to enter the director’s private quarters. „I’m sorry for interrupting, Director. There’s a new arrival, a Dr. Kova. He says Dr. Kira is expecting him.“

„Ah, of course.“ If Leander was annoyed about the interruption, he didn’t show it. Kira hoped her own relief was equally well hidden. „That’s the colleague from the north you mentioned to me.“

She rose. „Yes. I’d better show him to his quarters.“ It wasn’t necessary, they could have pushed it onto the intern; being loaded up with work no one else wanted to do was the natural state of being for the interns. But she wanted to get away from this strange conversation about humans and their treatment, even if it meant she had to face Galen and _his_ humans instead.

No. Galen and his _beasts._ She wouldn’t allow herself to get infected by his newly acquired humanitarianism. _He_ had probably gotten it from the zoologist he had hooked up with. Apparently, she had studied humans before she eloped with him. Maybe allowing oneself to be around them for extended periods of time had a corrupting effect on one’s virtue.

She bent down to receive a peck on the cheek. „Thank you for a lovely evening. I promise not to be such a bore the next time... if you aren’t too annoyed with me to invite me again.“

Leander smiled up at her, but his eyes were piercing. „I will never be too annoyed with you to invite you for dinner... but maybe I’ll let you prepare it next time.“

She forced herself to laugh. „It’s an appropriate punishment - I just can’t say whether for me or for you. I'm a terrible cook.“

„Well, you’ll at least have to pick the wine!“ he called after her.

Kira’s smile faded as soon as she had closed the door behind her. Time to meet her newest patient. Dr. Mepela Kira, veterinarian. What a career jump.

Well, maybe she would learn something useful from it, at least. For future patients... and surgeons.

* * *

It was night when they finally rumbled into the clinic’s backyard; the prohibition against horses for humans went so far that they couldn’t even use them to pull their carts. They had ambled back to the city at ox speed, while the tension inside Burke grew and grew until he felt ready to kill something. He had half hoped that they’d meet a patrol; Galen had forgotten to demand his knife back, and Burke wasn’t going to remind him.

The tension didn’t dissolve even now, when he jumped down from the driver’s seat and raced to the back of the cart to fold back the tarpaulin. „How is he?“

Galen jumped off the cart and turned to offer his help to Zana. „Unchanged. Don’t worry, Peet, he is in good hands now - or he will be, in a few moments.“ He nodded towards the dark mouth of the back entrance, from where a chimp in a bright yellow robe was striding towards them.

She just flicked him a quick glance before she turned to Galen, and Burke felt his mouth water as a wave of nausea hit him. The chimp’s eyes were cold, but the way she moved reminded him of Zana. She was standing right next to Zana now, and the impression of them being siblings intensified.

It had been the same with Vanda. Vanda had reminded him of Zana, too, and that had been his biggest mistake. Burke swallowed his saliva before he could drown in it, and touched the hilt of the knife at his back. Since he had... come back, it somehow worked the other way round - every time he looked at Zana, he was reminded of Vanda, and every time he saw a female chimp, he was reminded of Zana, and _then_ he was reminded of Vanda.

But the cold look in that chimp’s eyes had reminded him straight of Vanda, no detour to Zana necessary.

_You better decide right now if you want every chimp from here to the mountains to be a reminder of Vanda. ‘cause in case you’d forgotten, this damn planet now belongs to them._

He should turn this around so that they reminded him of Zana, instead. Zana was... she was alright. She was safe, as safe as any ape could be for a human. Yeah, it would be definitely better if they all were Zana to him - would increase his chances to not kill one of them some day.

If only he knew how the hell he was supposed to do that.

„Dr. Kova,“ the chimp said stiffly. She inclined her head a tiny fraction, the bare minimum of greeting; she clearly wasn’t pleased about Galen’s presence.

Galen didn’t seem to notice, or to mind. „Dr. Kira. Apologies for being late - we had an accident. One of my orderlies was injured.“ He stepped aside to reveal Virdon lying on the floor of the cart, conscious but drowsy from whatever Ango had hidden under the chamomille in his tea.

So _this_ was Galen’s old friend who he had been so sure would be helping them. She sure looked ecstatic about the prospect. Burke took slow breaths and tried to peel the memory of Vanda off her; it wasn’t easy, not with the doctor’s sullen face as she peered inside the cart.

 _She’s like Zana,_ he tried to persuade himself. _She’s... almost the same size, and the same age, and they’re both scientists, and, and... and I bet she can give you a good ass whopping if you need it, just like Zana..._ For a short moment, he wondered what it would be like if those two locked horns with each other. Zana at least seemed to be as taken with Galen’s choice of friends as he felt right now himself. She was frowning slightly at the doctor’s lack of interest in a wounded human.

After another quick glance, Kira turned away from Virdon and towards a short, stocky man with gray hair. „Travin, find room for these two in the humans’ quarters. - I’ll show you to your room, Doctor.“ She began to walk back to the main building without looking back, clearly expecting Galen and Zana to follow her.

„Wait!“ Burke knew it was probably a bad idea to shout after the chimp, but he couldn’t keep silent now. „You haven’t even examined him! He needs help, stat!“

The chimp whipped around. „I urgently suggest you keep your humans on a short leash while you’re here,“ she snapped at Galen. „Director Leander does not tolerate unruly beasts in his clinic, and neither do I!“

Galen’s nostrils flared. „My apologies, doctor. These humans are close to each other... it won’t happen again.“ He shot a meaningful glare at Burke and slightly shook his head, then reconsidered and came back, quickly crossing the distance between them. „Let me handle Kira, Peet,“ he said in a low voice. „Find a quiet place for Alan, and get rid of the cart. We need to be as inconspicuous as possible. We’ll talk later.“ He lightly touched his arm and turned away.

Burke took a deep breath and fingered his knife. He could be patient. He could stay in control.

He turned to Travin. „Alright, get me a stretcher.“

* * *

The pain in Virdon’s hip had dulled thanks to the drug his friends had made him drink again and again; now it just felt as if someone had inserted a hot poker into his bone and was pushing it deeper with all their might. No... it felt as if someone had taken a pair of gigantic barbecue tongs and was squeezing his bone, and the pressure was mounting, and mounting... no, it was as if he had touched a live wire, electric shocks tingling down his leg, except for the parts where he didn’t feel his leg at all.

It was a bad pain, Virdon knew - not because of its intensity, but because both the tingling and the numbness told him that the bullet was sitting close to a nerve, if it hadn’t even damaged it. Despite this realization, he felt strangely distant to the situation; only occasionally, he was gripped by a wave of acute panic, when the reality of what had happened hit him.

He had been shot! Not that he hadn’t been in situations before where being killed was a real possibility, but _here,_ there were no extraction points, no air support, no home base. Here, they had no backup, no one to turn to for help. If one of them was captured, or injured, all bets were off. They had escaped Urko and his troops longer than realistically possible; Virdon didn’t really believe their streak of luck would hold for another daring escape.

He tried to focus on something else but the changing chords of pain in his side by turning his attention to the jolts from the cart and the sounds drifting in from outside, but the movement was too monotonous, and the sounds were mostly water birds and the humming of mosquitos. He was too exhausted to open his eyes, but the sight of the tarpaulin overhead wouldn’t have been sufficient to distract him, anyway.

The tarpaulin was torn back all of a sudden and Virdon flinched as cool night air hit him unexpectedly. Night air... he had to have dozed off. His tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth, and his head felt wooly and somehow... floating. Voices were drifting in from outside the cart, Galen’s... and an unknown voice. Female. Then Burke’s, shouting for someone to wait.

More murmurs, then the floor was swaying as someone jumped on the cart. „We’re gonna move you inside now, Al,“ he heard Burke’s voice.

Virdon didn’t think he could make the distance - he was chilly and tired, and his leg was at once numb and throbbing, as if he had a really bad case of sciatica. „I feel pretty out of it,“ he murmured, „must be something in that tea... like morphine...“

„Nah, it’s just chamomille.“ Burke’s voice was flat. „You don’t have to do anything, my friend Travin here has brought his stretcher along. We’ll just lift you up an’ over, and then you’ll get a ride like you’re the queen of England.“

The dizziness intensified when they lifted him out of the cart and started moving; Virdon grabbed the wooden frame of the stretcher and held on for dear life. The sensation in his head was odd, as if he was falling, and falling again, without ever hitting the ground. The cold air had crawled under his shirt, and he was shivering uncontrollably. The only warm spot was the wound in his side, sending out waves of hot pain in concentric circles.

Burke and that other human - Travis? - carried him inside a building... a hovel, really; no use being polite about it. It was dark, and stuffy, and cramped, with too many humans who were about to sit down on long tables for their evening meal. Virdon hoped that this was just something like a mess hall, but that hope died when Travis lowered the stretcher beside a straw pallet and forced Burke to do the same if he didn’t want him to tumble off it. Apparently, the slaves were eating and sleeping here - all together.

Burke wasn’t happy about the other man’s decision. „Wait a sec, buddy. My friend needs his own room.“

„All humans sleep here,“ Travis said and turned to go.

Burke quickly stepped around the stretcher and blocked his way. „You wanna tell me you sleep here?“ He waved at the straw pallets lining the walls.

Travis hesitated; something in Burke’s face, or voice, made him step back a bit. „I have my own room,“ he admitted.

„Swell. That’s where we’ll take him then. He’s sick, he needs special care.“ Burke gestured at him to take up his place at the stretcher again.

Travis didn’t move. „We don’t provide special care for sick humans. If a man is sick, he rests. If he lives, he returns to work.“ It was said without inflection; Travis just stated the facts. Virdon closed his eyes.

_This is what we’ve come to. Even cattle were treated better back home._

When he opened his eyes again, Burke’s face had that carefully blank expression that warned Virdon that his friend was about to do something violent. „That’s a very progressive system,“ Burke said in a voice that matched his expressionless face, „but it doesn’t apply to us.“

„It applies to everyone.“

Travis didn’t know Burke, didn’t know the signs... Virdon tried to sit up, but only managed to roll on his side. „Pete...“

Burke ignored him. He took a step towards Travis, his hands still relaxed at his sides, but Virdon knew that he was relaxing them consciously, that he was very aware of them now, and that he was controlling his breathing so that he wouldn’t snap and- „We belong to Dr. Kova - and he gets very _nervous_ when his servants get pushed around. So whatever passes for the luxury accommodations around here, that’s where my friend goes.“

„We shouldn’t cause trouble.“ Virdon managed to come up into a sitting position.

Burke gently pushed him back down with his foot, his eyes never leaving Travis' face. „Not a problem, Al; Travin here wouldn’t dream of disagreeing with Dr. Kova’s orders.“

Ah. Travin. He'd heard the name wrong. Virdon doubted that it would make a difference; Pete had challenged what little authority the man had around here, and that wouldn't go over well.

Burke nodded towards the front end of the stretcher, and Travin bent down and grabbed the handles without another word. They carried him into a small room with a tiny, cross-barred window that reminded Virdon too much of his time in Aken’s cell, and helped him lie down on Travin’s cot. The man immediately turned to go; Burke called him back. „You’ll have someone bring new bedsheets and something to eat.“

Travin nodded, his face betraying his anger. „I’ll bring food.“ Then he pointed at Burke. „You will eat with the other humans. Now.“

Burke’s eyes narrowed. „Sure. I’ll be with you in a sec.“ He waited until the man had left the room, then turned to Virdon. „I’ll check back on you later. Need to get rid of the cart, an’ eat something myself. Take it easy, okay? They’ll get you on the table first thing in the morning, and then we’re out of here.“ He patted Virdon’s shoulder and rose.

„Wait.“ There was something he needed to tell him... in case they didn’t put him on the table first thing in the morning, or in case he didn’t wake up anymore on that table. „I need to tell you something...“

Burke’s eyes were dark with worry, but he didn’t sit down again. „Whatever it is, you can tell me later. You stay put, Al, I won’t take long.“ He ducked out of the door.

Virdon grabbed the data disc that he was still wearing like a pendant around his neck. He needed to tell Pete... He needed to know...

His eyes drooped shut. He had to remember to tell him... it was important...

* * *

When Burke returned to the clinic, darkness had already settled around the buildings; he had driven the cart as far away from the clinic as he had dared, fully prepared to jump off and vanish into the marshes at the faintest sound of hoofbeats from a patrol. Humans were not allowed to roam the streets after sunset without explicit - and written - permission from their masters. It had been impossible to go back to the point where the cart had changed owners, but by now, the driver would have managed to rub through his fetters; he had even told him how to use the rock he had wrapped into the ropes.

If the man didn’t manage to free himself, it could take a while before he was found. But this world let only the fittest survive; Burke told himself that he was simply adapting to it.

Anyway, he couldn’t go back and look after the guy. He had Al to look after, and some things took precedence.

The barred windows of the humans’ hut were still alight; Burke hesitated for a moment before he entered. The whole thing reminded him too much of a prison... or a cage; he suspected that the door was usually locked earlier in the evening. They had been waiting for him, probably on request of „Dr. Kova.“

To his surprise, there were still people at the tables, hunched over their evening meals. They seemed to be eating - and sleeping - in shifts. Too many animals in a too small stable; not exactly good husbandry, but as long as the facade was immaculate... and nobody would care about the living conditions of the humans in the backyard anyway. He sat down on the only free seat he could find, which happened to be the one right beside Travin. Burke bet that wasn’t a coincidence.

He glanced around while he was eating, mostly to distract himself from _what_ he was eating. Nobody spoke, nobody looked up from their meal; people looked exhausted, mostly, but they didn’t seem to be malnourished or mistreated. At least he couldn’t see any marks of abuse on any of them.

But then he had learned that you couldn’t always see the marks.

Burke decided to break up their routine a bit. It made no sense not to have a bit of dinner conversation, right, there were no apes around they could disturb with it. „This is terrific. What is it, boiled mule hooves?“

A few glances were flicked his way, but nobody answered. Apparently there _was_ some rule against dinner conversation. Burke turned to Travin. „You wouldn’t happen to have some sauce for a taste-killer?“

Travin didn’t look up from his bowl. „We have what we have.“

Burke pushed his own bowl away. „Yeah, you have the content of the apes’ trash dump. I’m not gonna eat that shit, and neither is my friend.“

Travin still didn’t deign to look at him. „Then you’ll sleep hungry.“

Burke caught some movement from the corner of his eye and turned to see a girl coming up to their table; she was setting a slice of bread down before each man. „Nah, I don’t think so. This looks like bread, although I still have to verify that theory. Thanks, princess.“ He smiled up to the girl, who avoided his eyes. She moved to put down another slice of bread before Travin.

He wasn’t going to let her off that easily; she might be thin and rather plain, and seemed to wish to be somewhere else, a sentiment he could fully empathize with. But her mere presence also seemed to piss off Travin, which was reason enough to keep her around a few moments longer. „What’s your name? In case I need to call you back for seconds?“

„Don’t talk to her!“ Travin snapped.

So he had been right - the old fart _was_ pissed off. Now this was interesting. Burke narrowed his eyes. „I just asked her name-“

„She has no name!“

Burke leaned back in his seat and thoughtfully tapped his bread against the rim of the bowl. It made a hollow sound; too hard to chew on without dunking it into that terrible stuff first. „Everyone has a name.“

Travin turned back to his meal. „Her name has been taken from her. She is no one.“

Some sick shit was going on here. Burke chewed the inside of his lip and flicked a glance towards the girl who looked as if she’d start crying any moment; but she just turned away and resumed her walk down the table. „What did she do, criticize the chef?“             

Travin just pushed back from the table and stomped into the shadows; that evening hadn’t gone after his taste, what with Burke kicking him out of his bedchamber and now dragging this weird piece of tribal drama out into the light. Burke sniffed and tried to take a bite from the bread. _With my natural charm and asshole detector, I’m really good at instantly finding new friends._

„She’s his daughter.“ One of the men raised his head to meet his eyes for a moment. „Better not to anger him with that again.“

So not tribal drama, family drama. Yeah, giving each other a hard time was what family was there for. „So she _did_ criticize the chef?“

The other man shrugged and returned to his meal. Burke tucked the bread under his vest and rose. No matter what Travin thought he could decree for the humans under his heel, Burke wasn’t going to sleep with the rest of them. He’d sleep in Al’s room, on the floor, if necessary, but he wouldn’t let the old man lie there alone. He didn’t trust any of these people as far as he could throw them.

And he trusted Travin least of them all.

* * *

The quarters they were led to were usually reserved for visiting colleagues; of course, a visiting doctor was exactly what Galen was currently pretending to be, Zana reminded herself. The suite consisted of a small room with a bed and a desk, and even a little stove for making tea, and an adjacent bathroom; Zana was looking forward to thoroughly brushing her fur, and to giving their clothes to one of the humans for cleaning. Galen was looking forward to something else, judging by the looks he gave her, but Zana found that she wasn’t in the mood. Something else was occupying her mind.

„Your ‘old friend’ wasn’t exactly eager to help Alan,“ she remarked as she set down her backpack and crouched down to open it. She had a second robe in there - rumpled and not exactly clean, either, but in better condition than what she was wearing; she planned to give her travel clothes to whichever human would bring their food up to their room. „I had expected that she’d at least examine him, and, I don’t know, give him some medicine for the pain? If we didn’t have Ango’s tea, Alan would lie in those humans’ quarters the same way he was as when he was shot.“ She felt her irritation grow with every word.

Galen had filled the kettle and was now fiddling with the stove. „Kira has nothing against humans,“ he said. „It has more to do with my presence, I’m afraid. I’m... bad memories.“

„A good doctor shouldn’t let their treatment of a patient be influenced by their personal feelings,“ Zana growled.

„Kira _is_ a good doctor,“ Galen insisted. „But she’s only simian, too. You can’t separate your professional life from all the rest. I’m sure she will tend to Alan first thing in the morning.“

There would be lots of patients coming to Kira’s consultation in the morning, Zana knew; she’d bet that Alan would slip down and further down on her list of priority patients... if he had ever made it on that list in the first place. An ape always had precedence before a human, no matter how badly the human was injured. She clenched her fists in helpless frustration. „What exactly did you do to her that she is now taking out her resentment on your human?“

„She’s not taking out-“ Galen heaved a deep sigh and began to take off his clothes to add them to Zana’s pile on the floor. He sat down on the bed. „Kira and I were engaged once.“

„Yes, I had gathered that much from our dinner conversation at your parents',“ Zana said dryly, and Galen winced. It was a memory neither of them would ever forget - if the whole drama with the humans hadn’t happened the very next day, Zana wasn’t sure if she would have returned to him. In a way, Galen owed his relationship with her to the humans; the least he could do was to make sure that Alan didn’t have to suffer for another relationship he had apparently blown. „So what happened? She didn’t agree with your father, either?“

„Nobody agrees with my father if he puts his mind to it,“ Galen muttered. „It’s his way of testing people, but most people take it personally.“

„Maybe that’s because he goes out of his way to _make_ it personal. She broke up with you.“ It wasn’t a question.

Galen nodded. „She didn’t say it outright, she just stopped having time for anything except studying. She studied very hard that semester. And then she managed to get an internship at this clinic - it really is the best clinic in the city! - and she was very taken with her mentor, Leander... I suppose we will meet him tomorrow some time. It can’t be avoided.“ He sighed again. „I need to convince this man that I’m a real doctor!“ He buried his head in his hands. „I must be out of my mind!“

„I thought you did study medicine?“ Zana took the kettle that Galen had forgotten over his misery from the fire, and began to scoop tea leaves into the teapot. „So you’re a country doctor. You don’t have to know as much as he does, otherwise you wouldn’t have a reason to come here for help in the first place.“ She turned towards him. „But when you meet him, do make it urgent. He’s her superior, maybe he can put pressure on her to take care of Alan. Otherwise, I’ll do it!“

Galen raised his head from his hands. „Oh I, I wouldn’t do that. Kira doesn’t react well to people who aggravate her.“

The spoon clattered on the stove. „Sweet Mothers, Galen! Not this tune again! I hated it when you played it at your parents’, and it’s just as inacceptable now! This is Alan’s _life_ we’re talking about! You can’t be silent and wait for your old flame to come around and remember what being a doctor means!“

„And you can’t always bully people into doing your bidding!“ Galen snapped. „Not everyone will try to placate you and bow to your demands! Kira will do the exact opposite of what you want her to do if she thinks you’re overstepping your bounds, and _that_ will be bad for Alan, I assure you!“

„Then we wouldn’t be worse off than we are now, because in case you hadn’t noticed, she is already doing nothing!“

They both snapped their mouths shut when a soft knock sounded at their door. A timid human brought them some steamed vegetables and took their clothes pile with her. Zana filled up the teapot with the boiling water, careful not to spill the scalding fluid despite the rage that was rattling her arms. A tense silence had descended on them; when they sat down - Zana at the desk, Galen on the edge of the bed, bowl in hand - Zana’s appetite had vanished. She watched Galen poke his food; at least his mood had been spoiled, too. She didn’t feel very graceful at the moment; it was only right that he suffered alongside with her.

She had to get through to him. Even if he and Kira had a bad history together, it was still a connection, something she didn’t have with the surgeon. For Alan’s sake, she’d stay in the background and let Galen try to deal with his volatile ex. She poured herself a cup of tea, inhaling the aromatic steam in a desperate attempt to calm down sufficiently to be able to continue this conversation without shouting. „I know you’re trying to be diplomatic here, Galen, but... it’s not a strategy that works with everyone. It didn’t work with your father, you have to admit that.“

Galen didn’t answer, and Zana began to wonder about her last statement. Maybe if you were in an inferior position, being meek and compliant was your only way to survive childhood.

But they weren’t children anymore. And a life was depending on their ability to move beyond their childhood ghosts. „There are things that are not negotiable. Alan’s life is one of those things. You need to learn to stand up for the things that are important to you, Galen, and I advise you to learn it quickly - because I won’t wait around for Alan to fade away while you’re pretending to be diplomatic.“

Galen’s head jerked up. „What is that supposed to mean, ‘ _pretending_ to be diplomatic’?“

Zana met his stare with a level gaze. „You know perfectly well what I mean. If you don’t talk to Kira tomorrow morning, and if she doesn’t begin to treat Alan in the afternoon at the latest, I will have a talk with her, no matter what you think about that.“

Galen rose. „Well, I think you’re right, it’s time I learn some things - for example, not to let myself be blackmailed by an ultimatum.“ Zana watched silently as he strode to the door; but true to his nature, he closed it softly.

She sighed deeply and blew on her tea. Let him walk off his anger - he’d mull over her words anyway, maybe they would do some good. Zana eyed the bed; she was no longer hungry after their debate, but crawling under the sheets was looking more attractive by the moment. As it was now, she’d probably sleep alone, or would be fast asleep by the time he came back.

What an irony - their first opportunity to be together in private, and she was glad they wouldn’t use it... But she knew perfectly well that sooner or later, Galen would have to notice her growing belly.

Not tonight, though. Right now, saving Alan was more important. She wondered how many crises they’d have to weather until her condition became the crisis of the day.

And if she then wouldn’t wish for Galen’s mellow mood.

* * *

„It’s too dangerous. And it’s not really necessary.“ Kira was sitting behind her desk, tapping a pencil against a report in front of her. The message was clear: _I need to finish this, and I really don’t have time to chat with you now. Or ever._

Galen skillfully ignored her signals and sat down on the chair where right now, a mother with her two months old daughter should be sitting; from what he had overheard in the corridor, the baby had a hernia that Kira wanted to examine. As far as Galen could tell, the child’s state wasn’t life-threatening, so he wasn’t overly concerned. „When I looked after him this morning, he was warmer than usual and not really responsive; he might be developing a fever... which means the wound got infected.“ It was a common complication with gunshots, Galen knew - the bullets pushed other materials into the wound, like pieces of the victim’s clothing, that began to fester deep inside the flesh, while the bullet clogged the wound channel like a cork. „The bullet is still lodged in his hip.“

Kira threw her pen down with a huff. „So we treat the infection. The bullet isn’t really the problem - unless I start poking it, and get it moving again. There are big blood vessels in that region, Galen, and big and important nerves, and going in blindly will most probably do more harm than good.“

Galen shook his head. „I don’t understand why you’d be going in blind - apes and humans aren’t _that_ different, anatomically.“

Kira raised her brows. „How do you know? The veterinarians don’t do surgery on humans; these creatures breed faster than rabbits, so there’s always another one available if yours gets injured. Granted, with the latest trend of keeping humans as pets, that may change in the future, but right now, I only know what an ape looks like in there. Even small variations can make a big difference; probably a fatal one. Do you really want to risk that?“

„You sound very concerned, considering you haven’t even examined my human yet,“ Galen said, keeping his voice calm.

It didn’t fool Kira. She narrowed her eyes. „I have your report, _Dr. Kova,_ and I had a good look at your human yesterday-“

„A good look? You _glanced_ at him in fading light, made even worse by the tarpaulin of the cart! You didn’t even bother to climb into that cart to check on his temperature, or his conjunctivae. Come on, Kira, don’t treat me like a fool!“ Galen heard the annoyance in his voice, but he couldn’t help it. It was just too much. „You’re taking out your resentment of me on him!“

„I don’t resent you.“ She began to shuffle around the papers on her desk.

„I can’t blame you for it. We didn’t part on good terms.“

„No, we didn’t.“

There was a pause, while she stared at her hands that she had folded on her report. Then she looked up to meet his eyes. „But I’m not taking out my... This is my professional opinion about your human, Galen. I’m a surgeon - I’m not a butcher who goes blundering in with a knife just to see what will happen. And to operate in ignorance _is_ butchery.“ She tiredly rubbed her face. „From what you told me about the numb spots on his leg, we know the bullet is lying close to a nerve. Dangerously close. If I damage the nerve, that leg would be permanently paralyzed. You’d have a one-legged human. What good would he be? If you let the wound heal on its own, you may have a limping human, but you could still work him. The body has ways to deal with foreign material - it encloses it with a kind of rubbery tissue and neutralizes it.“

It sounded reasonable. Zana wouldn’t like it, though. Neither would Peet. And there were other considerations... „How long would that take?“

Kira let her hand drop on the desk with a thud. „Several weeks at the very least. And no, you can’t stay here that long. For one thing, you wouldn’t be able to keep up your charade in front of Leander...“

As if on cue, the door opened, and a tall, broad Chimpanzee ambled in as if he owned the office. Since Leander was the director of the clinic, that was even true. Galen rose and bowed respectfully. „Director Leander. So pleased to meet you.“

„As am I.“ The voice was deep and smooth, as carefully groomed as the man’s shiny fur that framed his head like a lion’s mane. „Kira assured me you were an old friend.“

„We, ah, we know each other from university.“ Galen smiled up at the taller ape and consciously kept his hands motionless at his sides. „Although only one of us went to change the world of medicine. I am a great admirer of her accomplishments.“

Leander glanced at Kira with a smile that spoke of a mentor’s pride in his student... or a stable owner’s pride in his best horse, Galen corrected himself after a moment. „She is our biggest asset. I wouldn’t know how to run this clinic without her. - I thought you were scheduled to give a lecture to the staff this morning, Kira.“ Galen thought he could detect a hint of steel in the honeyed voice.

„I postponed it till tomorrow.“ Kira’s voice had a slight tremor, betraying her nervousness. Galen hoped that Leander couldn’t hear it, too. „I wanted to show Dr. Kova our facilities.“

„Ah.“ The lion’s gaze returned to Galen. „And what is your impression so far, Dr. Kova?“

Galen took a deep, measured breath. _I’m just a humble country doctor. I’m completely overwhelmed by this big, vain man’s property._ „Fantastic!“ he blurted out. „Certainly far beyond anything I’ve seen. But then I’m just a little country doctor, I can only humbly watch and learn.“

And suddenly, it was as if he was slipping into someone else’s skin - just like it had felt back in the City, when he had become the owner of ‘Orva’s Delights,’ seller of fruit mixes and a special sauce. Foreign thoughts lit up in his mind, and he felt another man’s emotions descend on him - stubborn pride, and a determination to hold his own as a member of the same venerable profession. _Damn him, who does he think he is? I’m a doctor, too!_

He was faintly aware that he was, in fact, _not_ ’a doctor, too!’ but by now, he was in the firm grip of his role; a strange cockiness rose up in him. „Of course, I’m not sure I would agree with _all_ your procedures.“

Kira sank into her chair again, her face a carefully blank mask. Leander jerked up his head a little, peering down on him along his nose. „Oh? And what quarrel do you have with our procedures, doctor?“

_I haven’t the faintest idea._

But now he had to barrel on, ride the wave of that other consciousness and see where it took him. „I don’t wish to cause any offense...“ he stalled.

But Leander wouldn’t let him off the hook now. „Come, come, Doctor,“ he said with a slight smile that reminded Galen more than ever of that of a big cat, „I’d be glad to hear your learned opinions. Wouldn’t you, Kira?“

„Yes,“ Kira said weakly, „yes of course I would. Dr. Kova is... very opinionated.“

Galen drew himself up to his full height - which still fell short of Leander’s. _Let’s see who of us can be the bigger pompous ass._ „As I see it, there’s altogether too much emphasis these days on surgery, for everything from a broken leg to the vapors. While surgery is necessary in some cases, I myself prefer a more conservative approach.“ Mothers forbid that Leander got it in his head to invite him to operate on some poor, unsuspecting ape waiting in his corridors! Better to curb that thought before it even occurred to him.

Leander scoffed. „You mean a potion for every ailment?“

„And/or leeches,“ Galen deadpanned.

„I see.“ Leander’s face was inscrutable.

Galen couldn’t resist the urge to carry the joke farther. „Except colds, of course. I send those poor bastards to the priests. Some things are above the powers of medicine.“

Leander stared at him. At her desk, Kira covered her eyes with one hand.

Then Leander exploded with laughter. „I like your visitor, Kira. I hope you’ll do your best to keep him here!“

„And I look forward to working with you, Doctor,“ Galen heard himself say in the same pompous tone. Leander just shook his head, still chuckling, and left, to give that lecture to the staff that Kira should have been giving.

Kira jumped to her feet as soon as the door had closed behind him. „’I look forward to working with you’!“ she hissed. „Do you think he’s a fool? This whole thing is _impossible,_ this crazy imposture... you need to leave immediately, do you understand?“

„I can’t!“ Galen hissed back. „Alan can’t walk, and he’s feverish! You need to treat at least the infection!“ And then they would have to figure out a means of transport. Probably steal another cart, but a horse-drawn one this time, which meant they’d have to rob an ape...

„I have a waiting room full of patients I need to attend to first, _and_ I have surgery scheduled for the afternoon,“ Kira snapped. She was pacing up and down behind her desk, her hands pushed deep into the pockets of her lab coat.

„Then at least look after him this evening, after you have cared for all those terribly wounded apes.“

Kira sent him an annoyed look. „Many of them _are_ gravely ill. You don’t schedule a surgery to relieve your boredom. Fine, I’ll look after him later. In the meantime, try to avoid Leander. I don’t want to imagine what will happen if he drags you into an operating room.“

„Believe me, neither do I,“ Galen said, relieved. „Thank you, Kira.“

She waved his gratitude away. „I’m acting out of mere self-preservation.

„The sooner you are gone, the better.“


	3. Chapter 3

Contrary to Burke’s promise, the apes didn’t put Al on the table first thing in the morning. Nor did they get him later in the morning, or the afternoon. Instead, Galen kept Burke busy with all kinds of errands, sending him all over the place to get their laundry or stock up on their provisions. Burke understood that they had to keep up appearances, and that hovering around Al’s bed wouldn’t make a shred of difference, but his tension grew to almost unbearable intensity with every passing hour. He sneaked into Virdon’s room whenever he could get away from Galen or Travin.

Virdon seemed to get worse every time Burke visited him. He slipped in and out of a fitful sleep, his face red and sweaty. Burke felt his forehead and was startled by the heat radiating from his friend’s body.

Virdon opened his eyes at his touch, and Burke quickly forced a smile on his face. „Hang in there, buddy. You’re doing fine.“

His commander just blinked groggily at him. „I’m... kind of fading in and out,“ he murmured. „Like... now, you’re kind of far away.“ He licked his lips; Burke propped his head up and helped him to drink a bit of stale water.

„Guess that bullet dragged some shit into the wound and now you’ve got an infection,“ he said. „I wish they had some Amoxil here, but instead we’re stuck with Ango’s tea and that stuff Travin brought over here earlier. Said it’s from the doctor... Galen’s friend.“ He chewed on his lip for a moment, trying to fight down the frustration he felt every time he thought of that ‘friend’ of Galen, and the ape’s promise of what she would do for Al. „You got all your shots, Al?“

Virdon didn’t answer; his eyes had drooped shut again, and he was breathing deeply. Fell asleep, just like that. Burke didn’t like it. Virdon’s eyes moved rapidly behind his closed lids - he was dreaming. Sweat collected on his face, and Burke poured some of the water from the mug into his hollow hand and wiped Virdon’s face with it. He wished for some ice; actually, a bathtub full of ice. But it was too damn hot here... as if they were somewhere in South America, not in the good ol’ US of A.

Well, they weren’t there, strictly speaking. Not anymore. That nation had ceased to exist some unkown time ago.

Burke sighed. No use thinking of that now. He shook Virdon’s shoulder. „Al? Al, do you hear me? Wake up, old man! You’re scaring me!“

Virdon’s eyes popped open. „The instruments...“ he said hoarsely. “... never seen...“ he mumbled something, “... before.“

Fear lodged like a stone in Burke’s chest. Al wasn’t looking at him; he wasn’t seeing him at all. He was delirious... thought he was back on the _Icarus._ He shook him again. „Wake up, Al! You’re dreamin', this ain’t real!“

Virdon’s voice grew fearful. „Apes! You gotta hide! No...“ His breath came in ragged sobs now, and Burke felt his agitation shoot up along with Virdon’s. „No, no, not Chris! Don’t hurt him... run! Run! Oh god...“ The words dissolved in a moan that was so full of despair and agony that Burke felt the little hairs on his forearm rise. Al was trapped in a nightmare that involved his kid and... Urko, probably. Maybe he was confusing Chris and what had happened to Burke, when Urko had him.

Yeah, that combination would be the stuff of nightmares. Burke felt heat break out all over his body, as if he had caught a fever himself. If Al was already hallucinating, the infection had to be worse than they had thought. And Ango’s stuff was useless.

Maybe Al would die here. Burke rubbed his face, trying to calm himself. _You’re not gonna leave me here, Colonel. You’re not gonna leave me alone in this madhouse._

„How is he?“

Galen. That fucking useless ape. Burke hadn’t even noticed him entering. „What’s it look like?“

The ape came to his side, and Burke grabbed his knees to keep himself from grabbing the damn monkey’s throat. „You said she’ll come over to have a look at him. Where is she?“

The chimp leaned over to feel Virdon’s temperature, then pulled his eyelids down to look at something. It did look halfway professional, and Burke remembered that Zana had mentioned that Galen had studied medicine for a while, but he also knew that Galen didn’t have an approbation, and he didn’t have the authority to order a different kind of treatment. This was all just window dressing.

„He’s burning up,“ Burke said hoarsely. „We have to do something. We... we can’t just let him die in this fucking hole!“

Galen straightened with a sigh. „I spoke to Kira. She said she’ll treat the infection. I’ll go back and let her know that we need something stronger that what he is already getting.“

„What about the surgery?“

„She said it’s... it’s too dangerous. She only knows ape anatomy.“

Burke stared up at him. „Can’t she just look it up in one of her surgery books? We’re not _that_ different!“

Galen returned his stare with a resigned look. „She says even small differences could be fatal - the bullet seems to be close to a big nerve, and if it gets damaged, Alan may lose the leg. And there are no books about human anatomy, Peet. No ape would be interested enough in your anatomy to write one. I’m sorry. We just have to treat the infection, and... and wait until his body encapsulates the bullet.“ He patted his shoulder, and Burke flinched.

Damn involuntary reaction.

He was still feeling hot, and somehow short of breath, and the skin of his face felt too tight all of a sudden. Burke rubbed his hand over his face, trying to relieve the sensation. There was something... there was a solution to Al’s problem. He let his hand sink; it was shaking. He felt dizzy and far away. „There is a book about human anatomy. I’ve seen it.“

For a moment, Galen went very still. Burke got the feeling that the ape knew exactly what he was talking about. But Galen just asked: „Where?“

Burke took a shaky breath. „In Zaius’ office. Where he kept all the human artifacts. It was even a book about surgery - not just an anatomy book.“ He looked up, suddenly alarmed. „You gotta believe me, Galen. I had it in my hands!“

Galen watched him with a strange expression. „So you’ve known about my world’s past since... since we left the City for the first time? About... our humans’ past?“

Galen still believed that he and Al had come from another world, Burke realized. And why not - even he and Al had ruled out time travel at first, and preferred to believe in a parallel universe. As far as he knew, Al still believed that. Burke threw a quick glance to his friend, but Virdon was fast asleep, freed from his nightmare for the time being. „Yeah, I knew,“ he confessed.

„Why didn’t you say something?“

Burke shrugged. „It never came up, an’ it wouldn’t have changed anything, anyway.“ He tore his gaze away from Virdon’s sweat-covered face. „Will your friend dig out the bullet if... if I...“ He had to gasp for breath. He had no idea why he was suddenly out of breath. „If I go back and get the book?“

Galen didn’t answer right away. „Does Alan know of that book, and, and what it means?“

„Uh... no.“ And how would he justify _that,_ without tipping the ape off about the whole time traveling shit? For some reason, Burke was loathe to let Galen in on that little detail. So he just shrugged. „Didn’t come up with him, either. And why would he care about your world’s past humans? He just wants to get home to his world. His family.“

The chimp held his gaze for a long moment; then he sat down on the edge of Virdon’s pallet with a tired sigh. „I can’t promise you that Kira will operate on Alan once we present her with the book; it will take away her invocation of ignorance, yes, but it doesn’t oblige her to do anything. Surgery will still be her decision, and there are other factors involved...“

„Like what? That bullet is the source of his infection, and he can get lead poisoning, an’ who knows what else!“

Galen raised his eyebrows. „Poisoning?“

„Yeah, from the metal of the bullet. Tiny scraps of it go into the blood and you get all kinds of ugly shit from it.“

„Huh. I’ve never heard of that.“ Galen rubbed his palms over his thighs. „We will get that book,“ he decided.

Burke inhaled with a hiss. He hadn’t expected that. The ape glanced at him with a wry smile. „I am very fond of this human,“ he said. „I would loathe to have to break in a new one.“

Burke coughed, not sure if he found that little joke funny or not. But he couldn’t bring himself to be mad at Galen. The ape was aloof, and wary of _him,_ at least, most of the time, but right now, he was the closest thing to a friend he had, with Al being out of commission.

And he had just told him that he’d accompany him back to the damn city... to the place of his undoing...

He wouldn’t have to go there alone.

* * *

„I feel really ill, Doctor - I’m hot and I feel weak, and there is this intense pain in my hip...“

Kira glared at her. „You're perfectly fine... _Mila.“_

Zana smiled. „And yet here I am, receiving your professional care and attention. Of course, I’m an ape. I’m entitled to that, am I not?“

They were in Kira’s office, a sparsely furnitured, brightly lit room that was decorated with pictures of livers and kidneys, and other organs that Zana didn’t want to know the names of; she just hoped it wasn’t anything she was carrying around within her. An ape skeleton was hanging from a wire in the corner of the room. Everything was cool and clean and professional, speaking of an equally cool and professional mind. One that wasn’t in the least sentimental... or compromising.

Right now, Zana was enjoying the full force of Kira’s irritation. „Your human is being cared for. And I will not examine it here, I have to keep to hygienic standards. We have very ill patients here...“

Zana’s fur bristled with indignation. „Alan is not _filthy!_ In fact, he’s the cleanest being in that hovel that you keep your humans in!“ Ever since Galen and Peet had left to ‘get something for Alan’ - whatever that was, and Zana consciously turned her thoughts away from it every time her mind brushed against that question -, she had been at Alan’s side, cooling his face with a wet rag and trying to get him to drink Ango’s and Kira’s medicine.

He had gotten progressively worse over the morning.

Kira shrugged. „It does carry an infection, so it’s not crossing the threshold. And it won’t do it any good if I hold its hand over there.“ She bowed over her paperwork, signaling to Zana that the consultation was over.

Zana felt a surge of hot rage climbing up inside her; she grabbed the armrest of her chair as if it could anchor her against the anger crashing against her like a surf. „Galen is in awe of you,“ she said. „Even after all those years.“

Kira’s hand stilled, her fingers whitening around the pen. „He told you that.“ Sarcasm made her voice monotonous.

„No, he didn’t.“ Except for the admission that he had loved her once, and that they had broken up over some conflict regarding his father, Galen had hardly said a word about Kira. „I saw it in his eyes when he told me that you would save Alan’s life. He said you don’t care about politics, or about theology. You only care about your art. And your oath.“

„My oath applies to _apes,“_ Kira said grimly.

„Your oath says nothing about apes, or humans,“ Zana retorted. „It says that you won’t do harm, ever - not even by omission.“

The pen dropped onto the desk. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Kira didn’t look at her; she was staring down at the scroll under her fingers, as if she was reading up on some esoteric condition.

When she finally laced her fingers together and looked up at her, her gaze was thoughtful. „Books have been written about people like you - apes who developed a strange obsession with humans. I admit, I’ve never read them, I thought those cases were few and far between. You’re the first ape with that unnatural predilection. It’s... rather fascinating.“

The rage inside Zana changed; now it was shot through with indignation... and embarrassment. ‘Unnatural predilection’... everyone’s thoughts seemed to jump to the same disgusting conclusion whenever she showed concern for humans. „What I find fascinating,“ she said, and hated how her voice trembled - trembled with rage, betrayed her vulnerability - „is how the kind of negligence and callousness you exhibit could become the norm, and how responsibility for the creatures in our care is now being regarded as ‘unnatural’!“

„Are you calling me irresponsible?“ Now Kira’s voice grew louder, for the first time since Zana had sat down in her office.

„Mothers, _yes!_ Would you treat any ape the way you treated my human?“

„Of course not!“ Kira snapped. „But an ape is not a human!“

_„But suffering is suffering! How can you call yourself a doctor, and not see that?“_

She had lost, Zana knew it as soon as the words had left her mouth; she had started shouting first. They were both standing, hands clenched to fists, staring at each other over Kira’s desk, staring at each other over an insurmountable wall of different truths, different duties. Kira’s mouth was a sharp line, her eyes ablaze.

„I’ll have a look at it.“

Zana blinked. „What?“

Kira turned away and bent down to retrieve something from behind her desk. When she straightened, Zana saw that it was a doctor’s bag. „I said I’ll have a look at your human. I’d have lunch break now, actually. Better make use of it while you can.“ She stormed out of the office without waiting for her.

Zana drew a shaky breath. She had made true on her word and managed to drag Kira out of her chair and at Alan’s side. But Kira was as dismissive of humans and their plight as ever; was a resentful doctor really an improvement over an absent one?

 _I’ll see to it that it is._ She straightened her robe and hurried after the surgeon. _I’ll shame her into helping you, Alan. You may think you’re not anyone’s property, but I feel still responsible for you._

_You’ve never stopped being my human._

* * *

There were basically two kinds of doctors, Kira had learned at medical school: those who loved a good mystery, collecting clues and trying out various potions on their patients until they either died or walked away cured (or maybe just fed up with that trial and error approach; Kira was pretty sure she’d be one of those), and those who preferred to confront a problem head on - cut the patient open, hone in on the defective part, and either rectify it or throw it out. She suspected that these types were the equivalents of the two kinds of officers in Urko’s police force: investigators and soldiers - take aim, shoot, go home.

It had never been a question for her which side she fell on.

Hurrying across the yard to the humans’ housing, she forced herself to admit that she had, in fact, avoided examining Galen’s human more closely. Yes, she had kept to accepted procedures, but if it had been an ape - or anyone else’s human - she would’ve conducted a much more thorough examination yesterday. Galen’s fiancée had been right to accuse her of negligence, as much as it hurt to admit it.

So why _had_ she acted so outside her normal behavior? Galen had thought that she was taking out her resentment of him on his human.

_I don’t resent you, Galen. I resent that I still hurt when I look at you. Or even think of you._

She had successfully avoided thinking of him for the last six years. Now he was back, and it was as if not a single day had passed since that fateful night. She stopped at the door to the humans’ kennel, gripping the handle until her knuckles went white.

_Focus, doctor. You have a job to do, and you’re damn good at your job. You won’t slack off now, not for some petty personal reasons._

She drew a deep breath and half turned her head to... ‘Mila’... she didn’t believe for a second that this was the woman’s real name... who had been hot on her heels, but had kept thankfully silent the whole time. „I never let relatives,“ she paused. „Or _owners_ sit in on my examinations. I want to focus on the patient, and I don’t need interruptions, or layman diagnoses thrown my way. You wait here, I’ll call you when I’m done.“ She pushed the door open without waiting for an answer.

The first thing that hit her was the sickening stench of human filth: old sweat, stale urine, something brewing on the stove that had lots of cabbage in it. She gagged and put a hand over her nose. No wonder the humans had to be hosed down and disinfected before they began their workday in the clinic buildings! She carefully chose her steps between the flattened patches of straw, pitiful beddings for the beasts they used to work every day from sunrise to sunset.

Galen’s human wasn’t among the resting creatures. One of them pointed her to a door in the far wall that led to a tiny chamber barely bigger than the pallet it was housing. The human on it was sleeping or unconscious. She took a moment to look at it undisturbed.

It was a big male with dark hair - although at closer inspection, the roots were pale; either it was older than it had seemed at first glance, and was already graying, or it was one of those rare, fair-haired specimens, and just had its fur darkened. Kira chewed on her lower lip. If it was in fact a fair haired human, it would at least explain why Galen and his girlfriend were so adamant that it survived - the light-colored ones were expensive; maybe they hoped to sell it at a good price later. A crippled human wouldn’t make as much money, though.

The human was moving its lips, mumbling something. Kira leaned closer, curious against her will.

„Sal... wait! Wait for me!“ Its voice weakened to a low mutter, the words almost inaudible. „Don’t go... soon as we get... back. I’m on my way... tell him...“ Its breaths came rapidly now, its fingers digging into the blanket. Whatever scenario it was living through in its fevered hallucinations, it was greatly distressed. Kira frowned. Hallucinating was not a good sign. She picked up the jar standing on the reedy stool and read the label. It was one of their mild antipyretic mixtures. Definitely not sufficient.

When she looked up, the human’s eyes were open, dark and unfocused in the dim light. That was another thing she felt increasingly irritated at - how was she supposed to examine the creature in this cramped space, with insufficient lighting?

Well, it just had to do. She put the jar back on the stool and put her bag on it to open the buckles, and took out her stethoscope.

When she leaned down to push up the human’s shirt, it jerked back and tried to crawl away from her with a panicked moan. She grabbed its shoulders before it could fall from the pallet; it was too heavy for her to lift it up again, and she didn’t want the commotion of calling in more humans to help her. She wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. „Calm yourself! I’m Dr. Kira. I want to help you!“

The human stared at her for a moment, still drawing air in labored breaths, but it stopped struggling. „Sorry,“ it said finally. Its voice was deep and hoarse. „I was... I was having a bad dream.“

She let go and held up her stethoscope. „I’m going to examine you now. Once I get to your wound, it will hurt. Do you think you can stay still, or do I have to get someone to restrain you?“

The human grabbed the frame of the bed and smiled wryly. „I’ll be good, Doctor.“

Kira fingered her stethoscope, suddenly unsure of her own judgment. Maybe it would be wiser to have it restrained from the beginning. But now that she had extracted a promise from it, she was loathe to go back on their little deal.

She quickly set to work, and the human kept its word and held perfectly still, except when she told it to roll on its side so she could inspect the wound. She didn’t like what she found - the human had in fact developed a fever, and the wound was red and swollen, and weeping pus. She was certain that she hurt the beast when she squeezed out the pus and cleaned the wound channel, but it just grabbed the bedframe harder and ground its teeth. It didn’t lash out at her - whatever opinion she held about Galen’s girlfriend, the woman had at least trained it well.

When she probed its leg, the numbness seemed to have spread; that was another worrisome development. Maybe the bullet had moved... closer to the sciatic nerve. If anything, it made surgery even riskier. Kira briefly wondered what Galen meant to bring her that would help her with this case; he had been awfully secretive when he had told her he would visit an old friend.

„Wh- where are Galen and Pete?“ the human asked after she had allowed it to lay on its back again. Its voice was strained - it was still in pain. Kira assumed the second name belonged to the other human.

„They have left to get something for you from the City,“ she said, rolling her instruments into a cloth to separate them from the other contents in her bag; they would have to be carefully cleaned before they were fit to use again. Or maybe she’d just dispose of them completely.

„They went back into the city?“ The human tried to sit up, but broke down immediately. It grabbed her wrist before she could step outside its reach. „They can’t... it’s too dangerous!“ Its eyes were wide; Kira was taken aback by the look of sheer terror in them.

She yanked her arm free. „It’s a bit late for your concern, don’t you think? Coming here was already dangerous, and if you’d had any sense of... of honor, of loyalty, of... _responsibility,_ you’d never have allowed Galen to take you here!“

The human blinked, a slow drooping and raising of its eyelids that betrayed its dazed state. Maybe it hadn’t understood her words; Kira fervently wished so. Why would she care if Galen endangered his life for his pet?

Because he might lead the authorities back to her if he was caught. That... that was the only reason. She glared at the human, that huge, clumsy beast, with its unnatural long limbs and furless torso. It was ugly; how could Galen and that woman develop such an obsession with it?

„I’m as worried for him as you are,“ the human said slowly.

„I care no more for him than I do for you! Do you understand?“ Kira snapped. „You mean nothing! Galen is a fool, risking his life, and you don’t even think of the danger he’s facing because of you! Humans are blind and sentimental, you can’t control your emotions or your thoughts! You’ll destroy Galen, and your friend - you’ll all be destroyed!“

She grabbed her bag and fled into the main room, stumbling over outstretched limbs and dirty bowls that were buried in the straw. The stench had gotten worse since she had first entered; she held her breath until she had finally reached the door and pushed it open, half falling into the bright light of noon.

A hand supported her under the elbow. „Are you alright? What happened?“

Kira quickly stepped aside, out of Mila’s reach. „Nothing happened. I examined your human.“

Mila studied her for a moment. „What are your findings, doctor?“

„I’ll send someone over to bring you a different drug against the fever.“ Kira drew a deep breath, slowly and carefully, so that Mila wouldn’t notice. The sun was burning on her fur, burning away the human stench and the moisture of the dark, damp air in the kennel. She wished she could prolong her lunch break to bake in the sun and thoroughly brush her fur.

The living conditions for these beasts were unacceptable. She’d talk to Leander about it, they’d need a second kennel; the stocking density was much too high. And someone ought to burn those beddings and bring in fresh straw...

„And what about the bullet? Can you get it out?“

„No.“ She turned away from Mila, from the kennel. „The bullet has moved closer to the nerve, and there are big blood vessels in the immediate vicinity.“ She stopped. „If I can get the infection under control, your human has a chance of survival, even if it will be permanently lame,“ she said over her shoulder.

„But if I try to get at the bullet, it’ll bleed out in mere moments.“

* * *

The sun was battering the plaza with radiation, heating up the air over the white cobblestones into a shimmering curtain. The apes, insisting to wear robes over their furs, were suffering even more under the heat than the humans, so the vendors had taken to spanning awnings in front of their stalls. In the alleys surrounding the market, one wandered in colored flecks of light, but out here, the white stones threw back the light in blinding brightness. Still, the aisles between the stalls were packed with buyers, apes and their human servants in almost equal numbers.

Burke kept telling himself that it was a good thing that the market was crowded; he and Galen were melting into the masses, just another ape and his slave. But the sheer number of apes had him on edge, and he flinched every time he felt fur brush against him.

„What are we doing here?“ he murmured at Galen’s shoulder. They were standing under the green awning of a herbalist’s stall, and the chimp was sniffing at a sampling of dried herbs. „If you just wanted to kill the time until dark, you could’ve chosen a less public place.“

Galen ignored him. „I’ll take this one, yes, one pound - who knows when I’ll come upon a vendor who is as conscientious about quality as you are?“

The wizened little gorilla - and that was setting his teeth on edge, too, Burke thought grimly, too many damn gorillas here, selling their turnips and herbs and shit - beamed and bobbed, and scurried to measure more chamomille, and yarrow, and wormwood, and three dozen other drugs Burke had already forgotten, into small linen bags. Burke frowned at the pile of already filled bags; it was nobody’s guess who would have to carry all that stuff. „Don’t you think you’re taking your latest costume a bit too seriously?“ he whispered. „Who _needs_ all that stuff? And do we even have the money for that?“

„Don’t worry over your master’s purse,“ Galen murmured back. „And yes, we will need all that stuff. And no, we can’t visit Melvin, I don’t want to put him at risk again, after everything he’s already done for us. - Excellent, mother! I shall recommend your products to my colleagues!“ He paid the old woman and gallantly kissed her hand, which earned him a wide, toothless grin, and waved casually for Burke to gather their purchases.

„I was thinking,“ he said, after they had stepped out of the shadow of the herbalist’s tent and back into the crowd of buyers, sightseers, and samplers of free appetizers, „that we need a better plan than just wildly running off. We haven’t come very far with that strategy.“

„No shit,“ Burke muttered. "This place is like the goddamned Hotel California." If he craned his neck, he could see the white mural of the institute where he and Virdon had spent their first months after Urko had captured them.

He felt chilly all of a sudden, as if he was suffering from a sunstroke. Maybe he had overheated under the hoodie he was wearing. It was meant to shield him from the sun, and to hide his face from anyone who’d bothered to look at the ‘Wanted!’ posters, but it was actually too warm for this weather. Suffocating. Still, he didn’t dare to throw the hood back from his face.

„So you’re planning to keep that ‘Dr. Kova’ identity?“ They had left the main square and were wandering down a narrow alley; the sprawling upper levels of the typical ape houses were providing blessed shadow. „What will you do if they ask for your approbation papers?“

„I had a good look at Kira’s certificate; it’s hanging at the wall in her office,“ Galen said with a shrug. „I think I can easily manufacture a credible imitation.“

„You’d forge a doctor’s approbation?“ Burke was shocked.

„Why not? I was forging ownership papers for you and Alan, and false identification for Zana and myself...“

„That’s different! Someone might expect you to actually treat them!“ Then it suddenly dawned on him. „You... that’s why we’re buying all that stuff! All those herbs... you’re really planning to try them out on some poor, ill bastard!“

„I don’t plan anything of the kind.“ Galen turned another corner, and entered an even smaller and darker alley. „But I need to keep up appearances. I wouldn’t be a very convincing country doctor if I traveled without any herbs or leeches.“

Burke stopped cold. „Leeches.“

Galen kept walking. „They’re quite effective for treating rheumatism, or so I’ve heard.“

„Leeches!“ Burke repeated. „What’s next, you’ll give them arsenic against syphilis?“

Galen stopped in front of a thick wooden door set in the forbidding windowless wall that was a traditional simian house’s ground level. He half turned to Burke, brows raised. „Is that how you use it?“

„No!“ Burke threw his hands up in exasperation. „It’s poisonous! It’s quackery, just like using leeches!“

Galen hesitated, his hand already on the handle of the door. „I told you, it’s just for appearances’ sake.“ He pushed open the door. Somewhere in the darkness behind it, a row of bells were jingling. „But you will take care of them.“

Burke stared at his receding back. „The hell I will!“

He hurried after the chimp before the door could shut him out in the street.

When they finally returned to the public stables to unload their purchases into the cart Galen had borrowed from the clinic, Burke was hot, and sweaty, and in a bad mood. The stones were still baking with the day’s heat; what little breeze snaked between the houses touched his sweat-drenched temples like a hot breath. Burke watched Galen carefully stow away the bags with herbs, jars with leeches, a small leather case with an assortment of steel knives and needles and other instruments he didn’t want to know the uses for, and a bar of tin.

He had refrained from asking then, and he wouldn’t ask now. Sooner or later, Galen would tell him what he’d need the tin for.

They had also bought a roll of rope and a set of lock picks. Not from the same vendor, of course. Galen had given a convincing show of a slow, befuddled ape who frequently locked himself out of his own home. Considering his pitiful performance when they had fled the City for the first time, he had developed into a veritable Alec Guinness.

Oh, to hell with it! „What do you need the tin for?“

Galen pulled the tarpaulin down and began to fasten the straps. „Ah,“ he said with a smile. „I’d thought you’d never ask. You may have noticed that I had to show my doctor’s seal for some of the more potent mixtures?“

Burke shrugged. He hadn’t paid too much attention to Galen’s transactions; he had been busy juggling all the bags and jars and parcels in his arms. „What about it?“

„It’s actually Kira’s seal. I imagine she’d want it back-“

„You pawned Kira’s doctor ID,“ Burke said without inflection. Jesus Christ, what had happened to that ape? Whose bad influence had turned him into a conman... conape?

 _Not me. I’m a brawler, not a trickster._ He scratched his cheek. „And where does the tin come in?“

„The seal is made out of brass, but you won’t be able to make me one while we’re on the road...“

„Wait, what? _I’m_ the one who has to forge that ID?“

Galen shrugged and went to the front end of the cart to lead the horse between the shafts. „You also forged the prefect’s seal for our papers, didn’t you?“

„Yeah... well...“ Actually, he had just stolen Aken’s seal, so that Galen could use it for the second set of forged papers, but they’d had to discard them after Urko...

Burke exhaled.

After Urko had captured him. By that time, he’d had to have read the prefect’s report, which wouldn’t have mattered if they’d been able to keep their advantage...

„Peet?“

He blinked and gasped; he had forgotten to breathe in again. „Yeah, okay, I can do... can do that.“

Galen studied him for a moment. „Remember that you aren’t Peet, and I’m not Galen, and we are not on the run from Urko.“

Burke smiled weakly. Yeah, he’d said something like that when Galen and he had tried to sneak out of the city together last time. Had waited all that time for a comeback, huh? „Yeah, I know, you’re Dr. Kova, and I’m your lowly servant.“

Galen climbed on the driver’s seat and waved for him to join him. „No, you are my well-trained and esteemed orderly. We just have to find another name for you...“ He waited until Burke had climbed up to sit beside him. „I’ll call you Polo.“ He clicked his tongue and gave the horse a little smack with the line.

„Polo is a sport,“ Burke muttered while they slowly rolled out of the stable. „Or a word for chicken. Why can’t I drive?“

„How can a sport be a chicken?“ Galen shook his head. „And why do you want to drive? You don’t know your way around here. I’ve lived in the City for all my life.“

„Driver gets to choose the music.“ Burke didn’t elaborate when Galen frowned at him; he was already scanning the thinning crowd. In this elevated position, he felt strangely exposed, as if everyone was turning their heads to watch them roll by. It was just his imagination, he told himself; people were ignoring them, everyone was on their way home, to dinner and whatever these people did to relax afterwards.

Galen’s plan was simple: drive to the council, park the cart in a side alley, and climb up the facade of the building until they reached Zaius’ office. They would enter and leave through the window and thus avoid alerting the night guard.

Burke felt sweat pouring out all over his body when he thought about that building. It had been night the last time he and Al had been there. And they had ended up strapped to a table, with Vanda leaning over him, a syringe in her hand...

No. No, that wasn’t... He rubbed the sweat from his face. That had been Zana, and she _hadn’t_ killed them. Just _almost_ killed them, to fool their superiors.

Didn’t matter. It had felt like dying then.

His mouth was dry. He had to think of something else. „So when we’re there, we’ll both climb? ‘Cause that’s not really necessary, y’know, you can’t help me pick the lock, an’ you don’t know what the book looks like...“ Yeah, so much for distraction.

„But I can keep watch, and I can club the guard over the head if he turns up despite our...“ Galen trailed off and tugged at the lines. The horse stopped.

Ahead of them, a patrol was blocking their way.

„Let me do the talking, Pe- Polo,“ Galen murmured without taking his eyes off the black-clad riders who were now slowly encircling their cart. „You’re my human, you don’t have to say or do anything unless I tell you so.“

Burke’s blood was roaring in his ears and tinting the edge of his vision. He didn’t feel afraid, for some reason - thought and feeling rushed away from him, receding from the coast of his consciousness. He felt wide awake. Alert.

Ready.

He still had Galen’s knife, tucked away under his shirt.

The slow clop of the leader’s horse stopped right beside Galen’s head. Its rider leaned on the saddle horn and peered inside their cart.

The rope was hidden under a pile of bags and pouches, Burke reminded himself. All the chimp would see was a medic’s apothecary and equipment - and zoo, packed into his mobile practice.

„You’re a doctor?“

„Are you in need of one, officer?“

Galen’s voice had changed - it was somehow more rough and more pompous, enunciating each word with slow deliberation. If the apes were speaking English, Burke thought with sudden hysterical glee, Galen would now affect a Southern drawl.

The chimp slowly rubbed his chin. „Nah. But the Council Eldest needs someone for his human. It's fallen ill. You’re not treating humans, by any chance?“

„You're now looking for a doctor for Zaius’ humans?“ Galen leaned back in his seat and made a show of looking the ape up and down, down to the hooves of his horse. „The City Police sure has a taxing and diverse job. I’m impressed. Do you need a special qualification to join the doc squad?“

Burke closed his eyes. _Don’t rile him, you idiot!_

„Yeah,“ he heard the chimp say slowly, „you do need a special qualification to join the personal guard of the Eldest.“

„Personal guard?“ Galen had dropped the drawl, too surprised to remember to stay in his role. Burke opened his eyes again. The rest of the squad had now completely surrounded them, but nobody had dismounted yet. They were waiting for their leader to give the signal. „Why does he suddenly need a personal guard?“

„You haven’t been in the city for a while, huh, doctor?“

„Nah.“ The drawl was back. „Ahm a country doctor. Only came here for supplies.“

The chimp straightened on his horse. „Better go home quickly then, doc. Things are going to heat up here. Young apes bein’ incited by that professor... well, we’ll see how she’ll teach from her cell, now that the general has put his foot down. Took him long enough.“ He sniffed and spat. „But for now, you’ll come with us, doc - put some of your leeches on the Eldest’s pet an’ see if it does it some good.“ He turned his horse around and rode down the street without looking back.

Galen exchanged a glance with Burke and flicked the lines; they had no choice but to follow.

It would be an interesting meeting.

* * *

The doctor’s face melted into Zana’s, hovering over him in the twilight; he had to have dozed off again. Virdon tried to wake up completely, but his head felt hot and bloated and somehow fuzzy around the edges. All his bones were aching now, not just the spot where the bullet had hit him; even his jaw was aching from the fever.

He might die in this room. The realization hit him with sudden clarity, enough to frighten him awake.

„Can you sit up?“ Zana asked. „I brought soup for you.“

„’m not... I’m not hungry.“ Another sign that his fever was too high. Virdon didn’t think he would be able to keep anything down, even if he forced himself to drink the broth for Zana’s sake. „Is Pete... are they back yet?“

„No, they’re still downtown.“ Zana carefully put the bowl on the stool and sat down on the edge of his bed. „Don’t worry about them, they’ll be back soon.“

„Why did they go in the first place?“ If they were caught this time... This time, he’d be unable to do anything. He’d lie here, helpless like a kitten... Virdon closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh. „It’s an... unnecessary risk.“

„Galen wouldn’t tell me.“ Zana kept her voice low, probably suspecting that ears were pressed against the other side of the door. „He just said Peet found something that would help you to get well again.“

Virdon couldn’t imagine what in the world Pete could have found inside the city walls that would help him to get the infection under control, but Burke had walked the streets with Zana while he had to wait in his cage like a dog, back then. Maybe he had walked by an apothecary... but they were at a clinic now. Surely they had everything here that a herbalist could possibly have, and more than that - instruments, bandages, operating rooms...

... that they wouldn’t waste on him. Because he was a human.

Yes, maybe Pete was out in town to get better medicine for him. He had told him he didn’t like the doctor. Virdon couldn’t fault him; she had made it clear to him that she despised him for what he was.

He shivered from a sudden chill; they alternated with hot flushes. He couldn’t decide which was worse. „I need to talk to him when he gets back. Before...“

„I’ll tell him to come see you as soon as they return,“ Zana reassured him. He saw her chew on her lower lip; she wasn’t good at hiding her concern. It made him smile, despite everything.

He’d miss her.

He had never given much thought to the afterlife. He was trying to live his life true to his faith, knowing that he’d fall short of the ideal no matter how hard he tried; but he trusted that he would be judged by his efforts as much as by the results, and he wasn’t sorry about much of his life. Except... „I really need to talk to Pete. There's something... something he should know. Something I should’ve told him earlier, but I...“ He licked his lips, and Zana hurried to help him drink a bit of water.

„I put it off,“ he continued when she had let him down on the pillow again. „I shouldn’t have done that. We never know how much time we’ll have left with each other.“ He suddenly remembered the last talk he had with Sally, back on board the _Icarus._ They still hadn’t decided on their daughter’s name by then; they had jokingly assured each other that she’d definitely have one when he returned.

A hot tear ran down his temple and vanished into his hair. Zana stroked his face. „Oh, Alan, don’t. You’ll be fine, you’ll see. We won’t let you die. I’ll drag that doctor here by her fur, if need be.“

He put his hand over hers. „Zana, you need to tell him!“

She smiled, although her lips were trembling. „No, you’ll tell Peet yourself. He’ll be back soon-“

„Not Pete! You have to tell Galen about... about the baby.“

Her hand stilled at his jaw; he could feel it tremble against his hot skin. „What are you talking about?“

He was so tired. So tired. His eyes were closing against his will; with great effort, he forced his lids up again. „I’m a father myself, Zana. I know... I know what a pregnancy looks like.“ Yes, he hadn’t been around for their second child... it had to have happened in their last night together, the night before lift-off, after Pete and... and Jones had left... He blinked rapidly. That last night, when Sally was teary and full of bad premonitions, and their lovemaking was clumsy and desperate, she crying and he trying to console her with his touch, with the heat of his body.

He drew a shuddering breath; no, he hadn’t been there when she would’ve been tired all the time, hadn’t been there so she could send him for pickles and ice cream in the middle of the night, hadn’t been there to hold her head during those first weeks of morning sickness, hadn’t been there to rub her aching back during the last weeks when sleep escaped her because her belly was in the way no matter which sleeping position she tried.

But he had been there when she was pregnant with Chris; and he had been around when his older sisters had started their families, and he knew... he knew that Galen was absolutely clueless about her state. „You can’t keep something like this from him. He'll know... sooner or later. And he'll feel betrayed.“

Zana pulled her hand free. „You’re feverish; you don’t know what you’re saying. I know you miss your own child very much...“

For some reason, those last words made his eyes overflow; he squeezed them shut, embarrassed about his lack of control. He was confirming every prejudice the apes held against his kind right now.

Chris was dead.

Virdon knew it with a certainty as if his son had died just now, and not a thousand years ago... or how ever long ago the age of man had ended. They had all died - Sally, his parents, his sisters, his brother, their children... everyone would die, he felt the reality of it in his hot, aching bones.

Pete would die. Some day, he would die, and he would be alone. So alone.

He lay there frozen, held down by the terrible truth of his death, Pete’s death, Zana’s death, as if a huge black paw was planted on his breastbone, crushing his chest. He couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, helpless in the grip of his fever and pain.

With a last, titanic effort, he reached out to Zana again. „Zana... our time is limited. We’ll never know when Urko will... will win. And I know that when it’s my time... I don’t want to take any secrets with me. Or... or be left behind wishing I’d come clean while there was still time. And it’s not your secret to keep. It is Galen’s child, too. He has a right to know.“

She retreated to the door, out of his reach. „I need to get your medicine - Kira said she’d prepare a stronger medicine for you, against the fever and the infection, and I’m really worried about your temperature. I’ll be back soon!“

„Zana!“ Virdon tried to roll on his side, but a wave of vertigo stopped him in his tracks. „Zana...“

He heard the door close with a soft thud.


	4. Chapter 4

„We need these thugs for escort like we need a case of cholera.“ Burke kept his voice to an almost inaudible murmur. „What do we do when we get there? Zaius will arrest us as soon as we walk through his door!“

„We’ll think of something when we’re there,“ Galen murmured back. „Right now, I see no way to escape them. You?“

He was right, Burke admitted with a shaky breath; the cart was sneaking uphill through narrow streets, black-clad escort in front and behind it. Their only escape was to jump off the cart and race away on foot.

Yeah, that had ended well last time.

No, Galen was right - they had to keep their eyes open for any chance to turn their luck around once they had reached Zaius’ home; maybe take the old ape hostage, or... he came up empty. He was pretty sure that creating a hostage situation wouldn’t help them to escape, on the contrary - it would give Urko a reason to burn the house down with them in it, and get Zaius out of the way in one go.

He remembered how the gorilla had fired a stun grenade during their secret tribunal; not only had he thrown the thing in Zaius’ direction, he hadn’t received so much as a slap on the wrist for that stunt afterwards.

And now Urko’s men were guarding Zaius. To protect him.

Yeah, right.

Burke felt the tension humming inside him, surging into his limbs, wave after wave, urging him to jump up and run, jump up and plunge his knife into the nearest guard’s neck. He could feel the ghost of flesh and cartilage resist the thought of his knife, the density of muscle and bone, pushing against the shuddering hilt-

„Steady there, that’s a good boy,“ Galen said, and Burke inhaled with a hiss, returned to the cart and the street and the last coppery beams of sunlight with a jolt.

But Galen’s eyes were on the horse.

They were leaving the last of the mushroom-shaped houses behind them now, and entered what looked like a park - a sprawling grove covering the hillside above the City. The air was cool and moist under the trees, a soothing caress against his hot skin, and the greenery swallowed the noise of cart wheels and ape voices.

So this was where the bigwigs had their homes. Some things never changed. Burke craned his neck to see where the guards were leading them - they had left the cobbled main street and were now rolling over a grassy path between the trees. The fading light was even weaker under the canopy, and he couldn’t see much. The riders ahead of them were indistinct shadows moving under the whispering roof of the treetops.

Galen reined in the horse, bringing the cart to a halt. Burke scanned their surroundings, puzzled - there were only trees all around them, black columns towering over the mossy floor.

„Above you,“ Galen muttered and jumped off the cart. Burke looked up.

It was shaped like an egg, no, like an oyster, no, like the nest of wild bees that he and Ehpah had raided for honey so long ago... like all of these things and none of them, an alien thing nesting in the crown of the tree before him, reaching out from the trunk in a bold, swooping arch, then curving back and up and around the central column in alien angles and inclines.

Burke swallowed. „We’re meant to climb up there?“ Zaius’ _human_ lived up there, with his master? The image refused to take shape in his mind.

„There’s a pet ladder at the other side,“ the patrol leader sneered, and pointed. Then he vanished up the tree with swift, powerful moves. His lieutenant stayed where he was, waiting for Galen to follow.

There was no way either of them could outrun the patrol here. Galen ducked into the cart and resurfaced with a leather bag - a doctor’s bag that he had only bought an hour or so ago. „Bring me my bag, and don’t dawdle.“ He dropped it into Burke’s arms. „There are scalpels in there,“ he murmured. He took a step back; even in the rapidly fading light, Burke could feel his stare. „I can’t start my examination without you, Polo. Be swift.“

Then he jumped up to the lowest branch and was gone. Burke snorted and rounded the trunk. _Even if I sprint up the stairs, I won’t overtake you, Galen. You’d better outfitted yourself with that scalpel. You have Zaius and his head jailer against you up there._

The „pet ladder“ was more like a steep gangway that snaked around the trunk, and after the first tentative steps, Burke began to jog, then to run upward, letting the smooth handrail guide him in the darkness. It was no longer a complete darkness now, as all around him, lights began to bloom in the crowns of the trees. Colored curtains tinted them in soft shades of pink and yellow, green and blue: egg-shaped fairy-lights floating in the dark. Burke felt the little hairs in his neck and on his arms rise in response.

Curved walls grew out of the darkness to both sides of the gangway, turning it into a tunnel; at its end, yellow light filtered through the gaps in the woven door. Burke paused, chest heaving, and wiped the sweat from his brow and his temples. His hair was damp, clinging to his scalp and neck. His palms were sweaty, too; he wiped them on his pants. Wouldn’t do if he slipped off the handle.

The knife was still tied to his belt, invisible under his shirt; its weight had calmed him down today again and again, like a steadying hand at the small of his back.

He unsheathed it now; steadied his breath. He felt the nervous energy recede, as it had done when the patrol had stopped them in the street, leaving him calm and clear and alert. After all that jumpy, trembling, flinching tension that had exhausted him, this was good. He wished he could always be in that zone he was in now.

He thoughtfully tilted the knife and watched the colored light race along the edge. As meek and mellow as Galen was, he kept his knives sharp. Burke swiveled it around so that the blade was nestled against his wrist, hidden at the inside of his arm, and pushed the door open with his foot.

He was standing in a short corridor, floor and walls woven from a kind of bamboo stalks that made him feel as if he was inside a huge wicker basket; the light he had seen from outside was coming from the main room ahead of him, together with a murmur of voices. They didn’t sound threatening or upset, but that meant nothing; Urko could strike a light conversational tone when he was about to carve you up.

He crept closer.

Galen was standing next to a pile of multi-colored blankets, the patrol leader hovering at his shoulder. Both chimps were staring down on something Burke couldn’t see; they were turning their backs to him. A quick scan of the room showed him that Zaius wasn’t here.

But his collection was. All the damn artifacts from his secret room behind his office were lined up along the walls, sitting on shelves and in glass cabinets - the dolls, and the coffee machine, and the calculator, and...

... and the books. He couldn’t see the surgery book from where he was standing, but it had to be there, too. Zaius wouldn’t haul his treasures over here and throw away the one book that was actually useful. It wouldn’t have made sense, right? It had to be there, somewhere in the shadows.

His blood thundered in his ears as alarm slammed into him like a rogue wave; his arms and legs went heavy and numb and his fingers were like rubber, slow to respond to his brain’s commands.

Galen turned around as if he had sensed the spike in tension. „Ah, it took you long enough, boy. Bring me the instruments, this human here needs help.“

The bundle of blankets was a human. Zaius had allowed a human to lie on his couch. Burke covertly sheathed the knife and came over to them; it felt like wading through water. He kept his gaze on Zaius’ slave. For some reason, he couldn’t meet the apes’ eyes, not even Galen’s.

The man looked bad... pale and bruised, and not all there. He looked as if he’d gotten a terrible beating and the room was suddenly tilting and all the noises were muffled and far away.

Someone gently plucked the bag from his hand; Burke just stood there, rooted to the spot, and stared at the old man who was sleeping - or unconscious - under that pile of blankets. A thin red line went from his left nostril over his cheek and vanished under his earlobe. Blood.

Someone took him by the elbows, just as gently as before, and moved him two steps to the side. Galen appeared in his field of vision, bending over the man and pulling his lower eyelids down. Burke watched numbly as he inspected the man’s gums.

 _He really looks like a real doctor._ The thought formed slowly in his mind, like frost on a window pane. His limbs still felt strange, heavy and dead, as if they didn’t really belong to him, and he had no idea why. Nothing had happened, even that ape cop was keeping to the back of the room, just observing the doc and his orderly.

Who was standing around like a dumb mule. Yeah well, that’s just what he was expected to do anyway.

Galen straightened and turned to him. „He is bleeding inside. That’s no illness I know of.“

Burke rubbed his palms over his thighs, trying to get rid of the strange paralysis in them. „Yeah, but how many illnesses do you know?“ He kept his voice to a whisper; no need to tip off the cop that his master had no fucking clue what he was supposed to do, at least not before Burke got his body back under control.

„I did study medicine.“ Galen’s whisper was a bit sharper than before; maybe he regretted now that he hadn’t finished his studies. „This is no illness - the human was poisoned. His blood is too runny - I think whoever did this used viper weed.“

It was not a herb that Burke had ever heard of, but he was no herbalist; it could be the apes’ name for a weed he didn’t know anyway, or some freak mutation like the opers that Al had loved so much while they had been stranded on Gilligan’s island. „Why would anyone try to poison Zaius’ slave?“

Galen stared down at the still unconscious human, rubbing his chin. „Nobody tried to poison that poor... man. They tried to poison Zaius himself. It’s just that Semon here eats the first portion of everything that lands on his master’s table. It’s a precautionary measure that not many apes feel is necessary. I always thought it was just an old man’s paranoia. Apparently I was wrong.“

„So, no leeches,“ Burke deadpanned. Galen shot him a sharp glance, and Burke shrugged. There wasn’t anything they could do for the poor bastard, but it wasn’t necessary to damage him even more, right?

„No, no leeches,“ Galen muttered. „And going by the symptoms, whatever I try might be too little, too late, anyway. But try we must.“

Burke took a step closer to him. „Zaius has brought all his stuff over here,“ he whispered. „That means the surgery book is here, too! We can’t waste our time on that guy here - Zaius could come back any moment! Where is he, anyway?“

„Emergency session of the Council,“ Galen murmured and bent down over the slave again. „It seems the student protests are getting a bit... rough, lately. You heard that they arrested Zibaya.“

The name didn’t ring a bell for Burke, and he didn’t give a damn who the monkeys arrested. The more they were busy kicking each other’s asses, the better - gave them less free time to come after him and Al. „This is our only chance to get the book!“

Galen whipped around. Burke jerked back, but the ape brushed past him and strode towards the captain, who straightened in alarm and stepped away from the wall he had been leaning against. „It is worse than I had thought, officer - this human shows all the symptoms of Kahrna fever!“

The ape blinked, startled by the urgency in Galen’s voice, but unsure of its significance. „And that’s bad?“

„Bad for the human? Yes, but it’s even worse for any ape who happens to be close by - it’s highly contagious!“ Galen hesitated, then translated: „Apes can catch it from humans, and the illness is even worse in them than it is in humans.“

The cop’s eyes flickered towards the couch. „It’s dying - what could be worse than that?“

„I’d say the death of an ape _is_ worse than the death of a human,“ Galen snapped, and Burke felt his jaw clench. Sure, Galen had to stay in his role, but _damn,_ the chimp didn’t have to enjoy himself so much!

„But I was actually talking about the survivors, officer,“ Galen continued. „They suffer from penile bleeding, erectile dysfunction, and testicular hypoplasia.“

„Uh... what?“

„The males bleed from the penis, can’t get an erection, and their testicles shrink,“ Galen said, matter-of-fact. „The degeneration is permanent. Oh, and they’ll suffer from numb tongue and olfactory hallucinations. You see, the poison affects the nervous system, too.“

Burke turned away to hide his grin as the officer took two hasty steps back. „Do you think I... I caught it already?“

„That’s hard to tell,“ Galen deadpanned. „Have you been around that human a lot in the last two days?“

Burke couldn’t see the chimp’s reaction as he was still facing away from him, trying hard to keep his shoulders from shaking with silent laughter.

But Galen’s next words indicated that the ape had in fact been around the poor sob that was bleeding out internally on Zaius’ couch. „Then I suggest you lose no time to get the antidote - here, let me write you a prescription for Horny Goat Weed. Don’t look at me like that, officer, that really is its name. Off you go now - and in the next ten days, apply hot steam to your private parts, too. Just a precautionary measure, you don’t _have_ to do it...“

„Thank you, doctor, I’ll... I’ll wait at the base for you.“

Burke squeezed his eyes shut and massaged the bridge of his nose while the floor bounced from the chimp’s hurried steps. „Horny Goat Weed, huh?“ He only dared to turn around when he was sure that the officer had left the room.

Galen was corking his ink jar; he flicked him a wry glance. „I may not have sat through the final exams, and I’ll never wield a scalpel, but I did have excellent grades. Herbalism was a favourite class of mine, and the first thing we students looked up were the aphrodisiacs, naturally.“

Burke shook his head. Yeah, naturally.

„I suggest we make use of this little window of opportunity,“ Galen said. „You know what you’re looking for - meanwhile, I will jump down and get that pouch of powdered alfalfa, and milk thistle, and-“

„You do that,“ Burke interrupted him. „An’ make sure none of the others climbs up here with you.“

The silence in the room was intense once Galen had left; it was rushing in his ears like the inside of a sea shell, and Burke felt his heartbeat pick up again. His chest was tight all of a sudden. _No, no... now is not a good time..._ if only he knew what it was that set him off in here! He shuffled to the bookshelf, his legs already heavy and slow to obey his will.

He was hyperventilating, but he couldn’t get it under control. He needed to find the book before he got dizzy and numb again. _Focus, focus..._

There it was; behind the glass door of one of the cabinets. The door was locked, but no problem for Pete Burke - good thing Galen had bought him the lock picks. Good thing his youth had been such a fucked-up mess... silence and beatings, and dreams of rockets and robots...

He blinked. _Here and now. Here and now._ There was a glass door he needed to open, but his palms were wet, and his hands were shaking, and nausea was climbing into his throat, and glass was shattering and his sleeve was clinging to his arm now, warm and wet above the elbow.

He reached through the jagged mouth of the broken door and eased out the book. It was even heavier than he remembered.

There was another book with legible print there. He took it, too, not even reading the title. _That’s_ our _books, you fucking monkey. Our books, not yours._

And then it was as if his body went crazy all of a sudden. When Katlin had forced him to ride with them back to Aken’s town - his first time ever on horseback, racing through the night - it was as if his body was bolting, accelerating to insane speed, refusing to listen to him anymore. The roaring in his ears swelled to a thundering surf, and the light got brighter, but everything was far away and unreal, the only reality was his stumbling heart and his twitching limbs.

_I’m going crazy. I’m going crazy-_

He fought to regain control, but it was as if the bond between his brain and his body had been severed and it wasn’t getting better, itwasgettingworse-

The smell of ape engulfed him and he cried out and smashed his fist into fur and-

„Peet! Peet... Peet. It’s me, it’s me, I’m your friend, look at me. Look at me...“

He was breathing to deep, too fast, and the ape was blocking his escape.

„Hold your breath, Peet. Just hold it for a moment.“

He tried, but it felt like drowning and he had to gasp for air. Someone was kneading the muscles between his neck and shoulders. „Try again, Peet. Try to hold your breath for a bit. That’s good. Now exhale, slowly. As if there was a candle in front of you. You don’t want to blow it out. Easy, easy...“

Galen was crouching in front of him, his hands still on his shoulders. Burke stared at him, trying to slow his next breath. Galen nodded. „As if you were inhaling the scent of something nice. A rose, perhaps? What would be a nice scent to smell right now? Can you think of something?“

„Coffee.“ His voice was rough and breathy. „Really like to smell... coffee again.“

Slowly, his mind cleared, a strange sensation of hot water rushing down the sides of his head, leaving a faint ringing in his ears. His field of vision expanded again. Burke wished he could curl up and sleep - he felt wrung out, shaky with exhaustion.

„Stay there for a moment and smell the... the _kofi,“_ Galen said. „I need to write a note for Zaius.“ He rose and Burke stared at his retreating legs. His head was still ringing.

„What are you writing?“ he asked after a long moment.

Galen didn’t look up; his pen was scratching hurriedly over the paper. „I’m letting him know that old Semon was poisoned, what I think the poison was, and how to treat it. And to be especially careful - more than he already is.“

„Why... why warn him?“ As far as Burke knew, the old orangutan wanted them just as dead as Urko. He was just more polite about it.

„Do you want Urko to be Council Eldest?“

„Actually I don’t give a damn. Doesn’t make a difference for Al an’ me.“

Al. Shit, Al was probably dying right now, just because he was wasting time with a fucking panic attack! For a moment, intense, burning rage flared up inside him; he felt betrayed by his own body.

_This won’t happen again._

It _couldn’t_ happen again. He had to get his shit together. Burke forced himself to get up, and to cross the short distance to Galen, who had finished his note and was now throwing his writing materials into his doctor bag. „You didn’t sign as Dr. Kova, right?“

„Give me that book.“ Galen squeezed it into the bag; he frowned at the second book. „What’s this?“

Burke craned his neck to read the title. He smiled, although he didn’t feel amused. „A little present for Al. What’s the harm - Zaius can’t read it, anyway. An’ I doubt he’d read anything written by a human, even if he could.“

Galen stared at him for a moment, then he shrugged and forced the booklet into the bag. He struggled with the clasps for a moment. „No, I signed as Dr. Maltus.“

„Who?“

„The surgeon who wanted to lobotomize you. He is known for experimenting on humans, so Zaius will find it logical to search his clinic for that book on human surgery first. You said it has lots of pictures in it.“

Now it was Burke’s turn to stare. „You frighten me, chimp.“

Galen smiled thinly and dumped the heavy bag into his arms. „And that is as it should be, human.“

* * *

The mysterious Kahrna fever had done a nice job of sending the rest of Zaius’ guard rushing for the nearest herbalist, leaving Galen and his human behind to find their way back into town on their own. Galen thought that they could have at least led them back through the woods to where the first lanterns were illuminating the cobbled road again, but on the other hand, it was preferable to coming up with yet another pretense to shake them off. They would be back at Leander’s clinic when the panicked chimps were still dragging some surprised apothecary away from his dinner table.

Peet was strangely silent beside him; Galen watched him from the corner of his eyes. The human was staring into space, his hands slack in his lap; he looked utterly exhausted.

It had been too much for him, really; Galen had questioned the wisdom of Peet’s decision to go back into the city to retrieve that human book from the beginning, but Peet had argued that he wouldn’t know what to look for, and they couldn’t risk going there twice. He had been convinced that the book was the only chance to save Alan’s life, but the book wouldn’t help them in the least if Kira kept refusing to touch the human.

They turned a corner and entered Main Street; they were almost the only people still about that late in the evening, and the hooves of their horse echoed on the stones.

How could he have misjudged her so? Was she really still that outraged at him? Or was it Leander’s influence that had changed her attitude towards humans? Galen tried to remember if she had been as dismissive of them while they had been at Cesar’s Medical School together, but came up blank; it just hadn’t been an issue back then. Humans had simply been part of the scenery - there, but not really present in anyone’s awareness. And now...

Galen breathed a little sigh and flicked another sideways glance at his latest acquisition; the things that entered your life together with your girlfriend... his life would have gotten more complicated just the same, after his snap decision to run away with a censored book, but he could have avoided at least three... ha, _adventures..._ if the humans hadn’t been around to run after females, or explore ancient cities...

... or let themselves get captured and tortured by Urko.

Ah, well. Galen scrunched his nose. No use thinking about that now. They had them now, Zana and he, and they’d keep them - Zana wouldn’t allow anything else - and he _had_ gotten used to them by now.

But he’d have to keep an eye on Peet. The human was fey now - no wonder, after all the abuse that had been inflicted on it - but that made it unpredictable; Galen didn’t believe that Peet would ever attack any of them... well, not _consciously..._ but there was a distinct chance that he would either freeze or bolt at the most inopportune moments.

He would have to talk to Zana about this - she would know how to train the human so that he wouldn’t be a danger to himself and the people around him.

After he had persuaded Kira to treat Zana’s _other_ human. They had reached the northern outskirts of the city now, and Galen urged the horse into a light trot. Well, that wasn’t fair - he had come to like Alan, and had stopped seeing him as „Zana’s human“ quite a while ago. He was just tired, and hungry, and wrung out after that close encounter with the guards, and more than a little worried about the hints of unrest simmering behind the bustling, loud facade of the City.

He wanted to save Alan, too. He was just irritated with everything right now.

„Are you feeling better, Peet?“

„Yeah.“

Galen waited, but there was no other reply forthcoming. „We’ll be there soon,“ he offered, „and then you’ll eat something, and sleep...“

„I’ll have a look at Al first, see how he’s doing.“ Peet’s voice was low, without its usual liveliness.

„I’m sure he’ll be asleep by now, too...“

„Yeah, maybe, but I’ll still have a look.“ A stubborn note had entered Peet’s words, and Galen shook his head. He didn’t dare to think what Peet would be like if his friend didn’t survive the infection...

He would talk to Kira right away. Show her the book - if it didn’t convince her to operate, it would in any case shake her views on humans. It was an undeniable reality.

Peet jumped off the cart as soon as they rolled into the clinic’s backyard and hurried towards the humans’ hut. Galen threw the lines to one of the humans that still lingered about, and stiffly climbed down from his seat. The leather bag was heavy as if he was carrying boulders in it and for a moment, he wished he had ordered Peet to stay by his side and carry it for him. On the other hand, it was probably better if the human was not in the same room when he talked to Kira.

There was still light coming from her office; Kira didn’t really believe in ‘free time.’ Galen smiled as he remembered the many nights when he lounged on her bed while she was burying her nose in a textbook - their version of a date night. She hadn’t really changed.

And neither had he, and that was probably the reason she was so furious about him. Galen drew a deep breath and entered without knocking.

She was writing a report... or a paper, it was hard to say. She didn’t acknowledge him even when he stepped closer, until he laid her doctor’s seal on the desk.

„You stole my Seal?“ Kira leaned back in her seat, her eyes huge with disbelief.

Galen smiled wryly. „I prefer the term ‘borrow.’ I brought it back, after all.“

Now her eyes narrowed. „You used it to do something illegal! Don’t tell me that I shouldn’t be outraged at that! My Seal! I could lose my approbation!“ She snatched the metal disc and clutched it against her chest; her gaze flicked over her desk and the cabinets lining the walls.

„You don’t have to look for a hiding place,“ Galen said tiredly. „I assure you I won’t need it again. But you said it yourself, we can’t stay here, and I had to prepare our departure. That Kova identity is rather useful...“

„If I ever get wind of you practicing on an ape, I’ll send Urko after you myself,“ Kira said flatly.

„Actually, I practiced on my first human today, and it went rather smoothly.“ Galen sat down. „I didn’t get paid, of course, but I got something much more interesting in exchange.“ He began to open the buckles of his newly acquired doctor’s bag.

„Well, I guess you could get away with posing as a veterinarian,“ Kira granted him grudgingly. „Although I advise you to read up on pig and cattle diseases - the farmers can get nasty if you cure their livestock to death. A prize boar is expensive...“ Her voice trailed away at the sight of the book. „What is that?“

Galen gestured at it. „Open it and see for yourself.“

He met her glare with a level gaze, and after a moment, she determinedly reached for the book and flipped it open. „I can’t read these symbols...“ Her frown deepened as she began to leaf through the book.

Galen watched her face as she stopped again and again at the pictures. „Circulatory system... digestive system... this seems to depict a surgical procedure on the knee joint... oh, this is interesting... I haven’t seen this method for a surgical suture before...“

Kira leaned back and shut the book with a sudden clap, a stunned look on her face. „What is this? Is this supposed to be a medical text?“

„You knew the answer to that as soon as you saw it.“

„What script is this written in? Is it from the Western mountains?“

„It’s a human script - this book was written by a human,“ Galen said, watching her closely. „And it depicts human anatomy... including the pelvis region, with all its nerves and blood vessels.“

„And you’re telling me a human wrote this?“ Scepticism and fascination were struggling in her face, her tone.

„Who else would have been interested in human anatomy?“ Galen hoped that Kira was scientist enough to appreciate the logic in his words; the Kira of old would have - she had been at once the most open-minded and the most skeptical ape he had known then... and the most blunt woman he had ever met. It really hadn’t mixed well with his father’s-

Ah well. That had been a long time ago.

Kira stared at the book. „Where did you get this?“

Galen rubbed his finger over his lip, watching her thoughtfully. „From Zaius’ home,“ he said after a long moment.

„You broke into his home?“ Kira asked, shocked.

He raised his brows. „On the contrary - I was ordered to make a house call by Zaius’ very own body guard. His human had fallen ill.“ He hesitated for a moment. „What’s this about Zaius needing a personal guard now? What happened?“

Kira waved her hand dismissively. „Apparently, some student protesters waited for him after a council session and threw rotten fruit at him. Urko declared that they had assaulted the Council Eldest and had them arrested. I heard they will be on trial for attempted murder.“

 _„Murder?_ And what will they present as the murder weapon? A mashed oper?“ This was ridiculous! Galen hoped Melvin would secure the defense for this case - Cesar forbid that some young lad with a temper and some high flying ideas should hang for using a soft fruit to express their frustration with the government!

„Urko also arrested Zibaya, for inciting civil unrest. I heard she’s going to hang.“

Galen inhaled sharply. He had been aware of the animosity between the chief general and the professor, but he wouldn’t have thought that Urko would go as far as arresting the Orangutan. It was quite shocking, come to think of it.

And now he also had Zaius under... protection. The general was moving fast; soon the City would only look to him for decisions. Galen’s nose twitched. They had underestimated the Gorilla - all of them. Once Urko had the City under his control, it would be a giant trap... one they couldn’t hope to escape anymore.

They had to move fast. And that meant Kira had to operate on Alan. Galen nodded towards the book. „Will you operate on my human now? Now that you have the information you said you lacked before?“

Kira put her hand on the book. „If Zaius knew about this, why weren’t _we_ allowed to know?“ She sounded anguished . „Think of all the lives I could have saved, if I had been allowed to operate on humans with the help of this book - trying out new surgical procedures, new ways of closing a wound...“

„Well, yes, you can start by trying out the removal of a bullet from an infected wound,“ Galen interrupted her; he was glad now that he hadn’t brought Peet along.

Kira shook her head. „I need to get the infection under control before I cut into that wound.“

„That may not be possible.“ Galen drummed his fingers on his thighs. „With the way things are developing in the City, we need to be on our way as soon as possible - and that means Alan needs to get rid of the bullet. I’m no surgeon, Kira, and I’ll never be, but I do know my herbs. I can take care of his postsurgical care.“

„It’s not enough to have a picture.“ Kira frowned and leafed through the book again. „I’d need the description of the procedure...“

„Peet can read them to you and translate.“ Galen felt his impatience boil to the surface. „For someone who doesn’t care all that much about humans, you are awfully coy when it comes to operating on one!“

„Well, I have noticed that your girlfriend is _very_ taken-“

„Fiancée.“

“... very taken with that human of yours,“ Kira said sharply. „I imagine she doesn’t want it to bleed out on my table.“

„Nobody wants that,“ Galen said, fighting for patience. „But we also don’t want Alan to die from a septic fever...“

The door behind him flung open with a bang. „You need to come over to the humans’ quarters, _now!“_

Peet stood under the door, face white, fists clenched. Galen rose from his seat, alarmed; if the human was having one of his episodes...

Peet crossed the distance between them before he could move, but his eyes were fixed on Kira. „You need to come, doc - my friend, he’s... he’s very ill.“ His jaw worked.

„He’s burning up, an’ he’s not reacting when I call him.“

* * *

Al was still shivering under the blankets when the doctor bent over him to feel his pulse. Burke pressed his back against the wall to trap his shaking arms, and watched with clenched teeth as the ape pulled down his friend’s eyelids and lower lip, and put an old fashioned stethoscope to his chest. It all looked too much like what Galen had done with Zaius’ slave; Burke tried not to fashion a prognosis for Al from that memory.

Kira straightened, sighed, and folded her stethoscope. „His pulse is too rapid, but weak,“ she said, „and his breathing is too fast, too. The fever hasn’t broken.“ She peeled back Virdon’s wound dressing and frowned. „And the wound is still purulent. This doesn’t look good, I’m afraid.“ She was talking to Galen; it was as if Burke wasn’t even in the room. „You may be right, and I’d need to remove the source of infection - but it is in a bad state. I must warn you that it might not survive the procedure.“

 _He was in a better state when we came here,_ Burke screamed at her in his mind, _but you took your sweet time before you’d even look at him, you fucking monkey!_

Galen’s face was grim and tense. „I suggest we lose no more time then. I can assist you...“

Kira held up a hand. „I need you to understand, Galen! The infection has entered your human’s blood now - even if it doesn’t bleed out on my table, it can still die afterwards. We need to get the infection under control, and removing the bullet is just the beginning of that process, not the end.“

Sepsis. Burke felt a chill rushing over his whole body. Al needed IV antibiotics, and infusions, and... damn, he needed a fucking ER unit, tubes and beeping monitors and all that shit! Not a crumpled blanket over a straw mattress and an ape with equipment from the eighteenth century!

„You have that surgery book now,“ Galen argued. „Surely the danger of accidentally cutting into a vein is negligible now...?“

Kira laughed, but it didn’t sound amused. „No Galen, it’s not. Do you really think that bodies look like those neat pictures when you cut them open? This area is almost certainly going to bleed massively, and your pet won’t survive that. Don’t get me wrong, I will try my best - but I won’t give any guarantees.“

„We could transfuse blood during surgery,“ Burke cut in. He just couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer. „There are enough humans here to find some donors.“

Kira flicked a contemptuous glance over her shoulder. „Blood transfusion is impossible. We did some experiments, years ago.“

Galen raised his brows. „On apes?“

„On humans. We wouldn’t consider trying such a radical procedure without testing it on animals first,“ Kira answered, and Burke felt his jaw clench.

„What happened?“ he asked, when he was sure he had his voice under control.

„The animal suffered a severe reaction and died within minutes of the blood transfer,“ Kira said absentmindedly. She was cleaning the wound, not too gently. Virdon didn’t even flinch. „Leander concluded that transferring blood from one being to another was against the laws of nature.“

Burke inhaled slowly. „You must’ve tried the transfusion with a mismatched donor,“ he said carefully. Fucking monkeys didn’t even know about blood groups. „There’s a simple test we can do to find a compatible donor.“ Hell, they had even done it at school, wouldn’t be impossible to do it here, too. „We’re bound to find one among all those humans here.“

Kira’s hands stilled over Virdon’s wound. She turned her head to exchange a long, unreadable glance with Galen, then turned to him. „And how do you know about that test?“

Galen thought he and Al had come from another world; what had he told his ex about them? Burke couldn’t even begin to guess. „Does it matter? What do you have to lose? It’s just another animal experiment, and not even on one of yours.“

Galen’s nose twitched; he looked uncomfortable. „Do you know how to conduct that test?“

„Yeah.“

„You can use our laboratory,“ Kira said, surprising him. „But you’ll have to deal with Travin yourself. I need to study that picture of your human’s insides.“ She snatched up her bag. „And then prepare the operation room. This will be a nightly undertaking, strictly off the record, while Leander will hopefully be sleeping. I don’t want to have to explain to him why I’m turning his clinic into a zoo.“

„Your ex has terrific bedside manner,“ Burke murmured after she had left.

Galen waved his complaint away. „I believe it’s compulsory for surgeons. Will you ‘deal with Travin,’ or shall I? I can use my simian authority to make him comply.“

„No.“ Burke had had enough simian authority today to last him a lifetime. Besides, Travin would probably be pretty pissed off when he had to deal with him again.

Maybe he’d try to fight.

Burke pushed away from the wall. „I’ll figure a way to handle Travin. We have at least one thing in common.“

Galen watched him, his eyes sharp and knowing. „And what would that be?“

Burke lifted a corner of his mouth. „We hate each other’s guts.“

* * *

Kira told herself that mere logic dictated to show Galen the laboratory before she started to prepare herself and the operating room - after all, it didn’t make much sense to cut open the human without having a blood donor ready.

Not that she believed they would succeed, but it would be interesting to watch what Galen had come up with. He had been an exceptionally gifted student; she had always been convinced that of the two of them, he would be the one to gift apekind with some grandiose medical breakthrough. He would make a name for himself, one that wouldn’t immediately bring to mind his father.

Well, she had been wrong before.

„We use this room mainly to test for parasites, and crystals in the urine,“ she said with a wave that encompassed the entire room. It had been a linen room before she had claimed and repurposed it, which meant that one was sandwiched between the wooden counters with barely enough space to turn around; every available surface was packed with vials, glass tubes in wooden racks, porcelain plates, jars and beakers, measuring cups and -cylinders, mortars with their pestles, and rows and rows of glass plates with dried smears - Kira’s own collection of blood samples, taken from a variety of animals, from chickens, to cats, humans, horses, and even a badger that Leander had shot. He had brought her the vial with the creature’s blood himself, although he didn’t really see the point of her cataloguing and sketching the objects she found under the lens of her microscope.

Kira brushed her fingertips over the brass tube of the eye piece. „Leander places great importance on always having the best and latest equipment,“ she said, and couldn’t suppress a proud smile, „like this microscope. We determine the kind of crystals that can be found in the urine of patients with kidney diseases, and we can even detect traces of blood in it that are invisible for the naked eye.“

Leander had gifted it to her on her birthday; it had been the beginning of his courtship. Kira sometimes wondered if she’d have even considered him if he hadn’t bribed her with this wonderful thing.               

„It’s very impressive,“ Galen said, eyeing her treasures from the door. „You don’t just excel in the operating room.“ He smiled at her. „This is really a place that is appropriate for your skills - all that equipment, and the resources at your disposal...“

„Leander gives me free reign to do whatever research I deem desirable,“ she felt the urge to say.

Galen nodded. „He seems to be very supportive of your endeavors.“ He led his hand slide from the door frame and took two steps into the room, effectively trapping her between the workbenches. „I’m glad, Kira. You seem to be happy here. And you deserve that.“

She was silent for a moment. Then, „Yes. Yes, I do deserve that.“

They stood there for a moment, at a loss for words.

„This is a spinner,“ Kira said finally, to break the awkward silence hanging between them, „we use it to collect the sediment in the urine samples. You see? You crank the handle, and the tubes in the top wheel start rotating. The heavier components of the urine wander into the lower parts of the tube, and then you just need to decant-“

„I didn’t mean to stir bad memories,“ he interrupted her. „I’m sorry to have caused you pain, it’s just... I thought of the best surgeon I knew, and your name was at the top of the list.“

Kira raised her brows. „How many surgeons were on that list?“

Galen smiled wryly. „Only one.“

She scoffed and turned away, and began to reorder the glass slides. „It’s not really a compliment when I didn’t win against competition.“

„On the contrary.“ Galen nudged the spinner and watched the tubes passing by like on a lazy carousel. „You are so far above everyone else in skill and dedication that they just didn’t make it onto the list in the first place. Not even into the qualification rounds.“

Kira shot him an annoyed glance. „You’ve always been a smooth talker. You must’ve gotten it from your mother, because I can’t imagine that this talent runs in the Atiba line.“

He laughed a short, explosive laugh. „Me neither.“

„How did your girlfriend pass the Atiba test? I’m curious.“ She wasn’t, really, but for some reason that woman had been on her mind ever since she had bullied her into that house call for her human during Kira’s lunch break.

Galen sighed a long sigh and scratched his ear. „She didn’t. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that my father didn’t pass _her_ judgment. She almost broke up with me.“

„I can’t really fault her for that.“ She hadn’t meant to sound so vitriolic.

„No, I imagine you can’t.“ Galen refused to raise to her bait. As always. As always, she found his gentleness maddening.

„What made her reconsider?“

Galen didn’t answer immediately, and it dawned on Kira that whatever had driven both of them underground, had to have caught up with them at that point. „So you decided to elope together? Since you already had Urko’s wrath in common?“ Mothers, she shouldn’t be so spiteful! What was wrong with her?

Maybe she just wanted to see a reaction from him, for a change.

„I really love her,“ Galen said earnestly, and Kira felt her heart clench. _You really loved me, too, once._

„Well, it was certainly a very romantic move, much better than perfume and roses.“ She closed the box with the microscopic slides with a thud. „Though I have to question your judgment for deciding to start a family on the road...“

She looked up when the silence suddenly deepened.

Galen was staring at her, not moving a muscle. A stillness had settled in his limbs that made Kira think of a man being shot, not by a rifle, but an old-fashioned arrow. He had the same stunned look on his face, the same disbelieving wonder that it was really _him_ who had just met with a deadly force, a force that had now buried itself in his flesh, and was only keeping him alive as long as it was skewering his core.

„She hasn’t told you,“ she breathed.

Galen sucked in air through his nose as if he was nauseous. Kira stared, bolted to the spot, as he took a step back, then another, until his back bumped into the door frame. When he turned around in the door, his shoulder brushed it again, like a drunkard seeking support.

„I’m sorry,“ she said, her lips numb. „I didn’t know...“

But he was already gone.


	5. Chapter 5

„An’ what’s your name?“

„Savos...“

Burke scrawled the name on the paper-like scrap Galen had given him, and sent the man to the lab, where Galen, or Kira, or whoever, would take a blood sample for cross matching; he had given the ape a quick rundown of the procedure, as much as he had been able to remember it from his school days, because there was just no way the apes would allow _him_ to do the testing. He was already getting suspicious glances because he was writing that list - it wasn’t a skill humans were capable of anymore in this world.

„You,“ he stopped the next human in the corridor, „Dr. Kira wants to see you in the lab - she’s doin’ some tests, and she needs a bit of your blood for that. Your name?“

The man stared at him. „What does she want to do with my blood?“

Burke shrugged. „I didn’t ask her,“ he lied. „’s not my place to do, an’ it’s not yours, either.“ Finally, a moment where invoking their lowly status came in handy. „I need to put your name on that list, buddy - the doctor wants to make sure she gets a sample from _everyone.“_

The man stumbled back until he bumped into the wall; Burke was surprised by the frightened look on his face. „I done nothing wrong! I don’ deserve that she puts a hex on me!“

„What the hell? The doc’s a bit of a bi... I mean, she’s strict, but she won’t put a hex on you, or on anyone.“ Should’ve known that there would be some superstition around the blood; people were always so damn fascinated with their bodily fluids...

„I don’ want her to put a hex on me,“ the man repeated, „make my blood go bad...“

Maybe _this_ fool was the only human around who was a matching donor for Al. Burke grabbed his shirt and jerked him close until their faces almost touched. „You listen to me, buddy,“ he growled. „You’re the doctor’s guinea pig since the day she bought you from the pigsty you were born in; if she wants to screw your stupid head off and fill your gut with onions, then she damn well will, ‘cause it’s her right. You give me your name now, an’ then you’ll haul your sorry ass to the lab, an’ Mothers help you if I find out you didn’t show up!“

The man stuttered his name, and scrambled away when Burke let go of his shirt to write it down. He wished he could’ve escorted him personally - he had a feeling that this one could actually try to run - but he had only half of the humans on his list yet, and they were running out of time; he had to find where the others were right now... maybe they were hanging out in the stinkin’ hole that went for their quarters-

A crash and a yell tore him out of his musings - a sound like breaking earthenware, and now the cries got louder and more desperate; the high voice of a child, or a woman...

Damn monkeys were slapping a kid around... Burke dropped the pen and raced towards the source of the noise, skidding on the floor as he rounded the last corner-

It was that girl, the one without a name, and it wasn’t an ape that was slapping her around, it was a human.

A _human_...

... shoving her into the wall so hard that Burke heard the girl’s teeth rattle.

He wasn’t even aware that he had moved; suddenly the guy’s face was inches from his own, and his knuckles hurt from the impact of bone on bone. The other’s head snapped back, but he didn’t fall away from him, because

            because Burke’s other hand was fisted into the guy’s shirt, and now his blows were raining hard and fast into his face, hand wet and warm with blood, knuckles splitting on the other’s teeth, bathing in the torn flesh over the cheekbone and there was a crunching sound underneath the cries and the yelling

                         yelling his name

Something clamped around his arm like iron jaws, and pain exploded in the back of his skull as Burke’s head connected with the wall behind him.

The far wall.

The shadow of an ape fell over him and Burke felt his lips peel back over his teeth in a silent snarl.

And then the ape bared its teeth, huge fangs gleaming in the pale light of the gas lamps, and it was as if one stared into the maw of the devil. Burke growled, a hoarse moan torn from his throat by atavistic fury and fear, and charged.

The vise clamped around him again, around his wrist, and the pain was so intense this time that his fingers went numb and he was powerless as they opened-

The knife clattered on the floor.

The knife. Burke stared at it, dumbfounded. When had he drawn the knife?

He had drawn a knife against an ape.

The realization slammed into him like a blow, forcing cold sweat from every pore of his body, shooting stomach acid into his throat. He raised fearful eyes to his conqueror’s face-

Galen.

It had been Galen. Galen had snarled at him. Burke stared into his face, swaying on his feet in the ape’s iron grip. Galen.

„Peet,“ Galen said, _„kolm doun.“_

English. With a terrible, _horrible_ accent, but...

Reality crashed into him like the surf; the corridor, the lamps, the sounds of the girl sobbing, the guy moaning, and his own, ragged breathing.

English. Galen had spoken English.

He had attacked Galen _with his own fucking knife._ In an ape clinic, in an ape city, on a fucking _planet_ of apes.

Burke stared into Galen’s eyes as if hypnotized, chest pumping, tremors traveling down his limbs in waves, as the adrenaline was draining from his body.

„He has a _knife!“_

They both turned their heads simultaneously towards the source of the outcry; Burke groaned inwardly at the sight of Travin, hovering over the bully he had beaten up like an avenging angel.

He pointed a shaking finger at Burke. „Humans mustn’t carry knives! It’s against the law! It brings out the devil in us!“

„I allowed him to carry it,“ Galen growled, and Burke had the distinct feeling that the growl was directed at _him,_ because Galen had most certainly _not_ allowed him to carry it - not into the city, and not into the clinic, and not in this corridor, in front of the humans. His gaze dropped to the floor.

_I blew it big time._

„He _attacked you_ with it,“ Travin insisted gleefully. „I saw it with my own eyes!“

Burke felt Galen’s grip around his wrist tighten some more and fought not to wince; but Galen’s voice was as cool and controlled as always. „I have trained this human as a bodyguard, as is custom in the Northern Mountains; I assure you, it did _not_ attack me. Rather it perceived that human at your feet as a threat against me, and you can count yourself lucky that I stopped it in time. What was that noise about, anyway? _Must_ you harass each other in the corridors, where apes need to concentrate on their work, and patients need _quiet_ to rest and heal? Or was this some aborted mating ritual? Answer me!“

Travin’s face reddened into a deep shade of purple. „Nobody mates with that girl. She's no one.“

„Then what happened?“ Galen demanded. His gaze dropped to the man at Travin’s feet who had sat up and was holding his bloodied face with both hands. „What did you do to the girl?“

„She spilled the water,“ the man mumbled between his fingers.

„And that’s why you were beating the daylights out of her?“ Burke blurted out.

Galen turned his head and fixed him with an icy glare, and he snapped his mouth shut. Let the ape handle this.

„All of us must discipline the girl,“ Travin muttered. „We must keep the evil in her at bay, so that it doesn’t spread among us.“

„She’s your _daughter!“_ Burke didn’t give a damn about Galen’s newfound identity as master and commander.

Travin’s stare went blank. „I have no daughter.“

„What the f-“

„It seems your strategy hasn’t worked very well,“ Galen cut him off. „Evil has already spread, when it’s considered virtuous to beat up a child over spilled water.“ He nodded at the heap of misery at Travin’s feet. „Take that man to your resting place. He is not fit for work.“

„I’ll tell the director about this,“ Travin vowed and bent down to pull the other man to his feet.

Galen let go of Burke’s wrist and closed in to Travin. „You may do that - but be prepared to explain to your master why a man under your supervision attacked me in such a way that _my_ human felt it necessary to step between us and defend me.“

Travin’s mouth opened to protest; then he took a step back and closed it again, dull resentment shining in his eyes. A human’s word against an ape’s was a foregone conclusion; and for a moment, Burke felt for the old man, and felt a burning rage against the unfairness of it, even if it was working in his favour for once.

As soon as Travin had hauled the bully around the corner, Galen whipped around, eyes ablaze with barely controlled fury. „Give me that list of yours.“ He folded the paper without looking at it. „I will collect the humans. _You_ will go to the humans’ quarters and stay there until I or Zana tell you otherwise. And Mothers, stay out of trouble while you’re there!“ He bent down to pick up the knife. „When this is over, we’ll have to talk about your training. Humans are ruled by their instincts, it is true, but you weren’t _this_ out of control before. If you carry on like this, you’ll get us all killed.“ His eyes bored into Burke’s.

„Before I let that happen, I swear to the Mothers, I’ll put you on a leash.“

* * *

When he woke up, Burke was leaning at the tiny window, head pressed against the bars, a shadow amidst the shadows of his cell; Virdon turned his head and just watched him for a while, too exhausted and in pain to even speak.

His friend seemed to have sensed that he was conscious now, though, because Virdon saw him turn around and lean his back against the wall. „How you doin’?“

„Great.“

„Uh-huh.“

A companionable silence fell between them; they both knew that his time was coming to an end. It was strangely relieving not to have to pretend anymore, both for him and, he assumed, also for Pete. Relieving and liberating. A time to speak freely, and without fear.

„I really appreciate you being here, Pete,“ he said. „To... keep me company.“

„Yeah, not really.“ Burke’s voice was laced with wry amusement. „I got grounded.“

„You needn’t have told me that,“ Virdon joked weakly. „Leave me my illusions.“

„Uh, if I got grounded, I wouldn’t want to spend detention anywhere but with you, Al.“

„Too late...“

His energy was draining away again. Time to get down to business, before he slipped back into fevered unconsciousness. „I’m having all kinds of weird dreams...“

Why was he stalling again?

„Yeah, no shit. I tried to shake you out of some of them - you were warning Chris about Urko... must’ve confused him with me.“ Now Pete’s voice was halting; cautious. Urko’s shadow was in the room with them, smiling in the darkness.

„I dreamed I was on that table,“ Virdon confessed hesitantly. „And that he... that I suffered what he did to you. It was... I’m...“

„Yeah, that wasn’t a dream, I’m sorry to say, Al.“ Pete’s voice was rough. „That doctor friend of Galen finally decided that she’ll dig that bullet out, an’ she decided that you had to be rehydrated before she puts you on the table. Said your pulse was too weak, an’ too fast.“

Virdon drew a confused blank. „What does that have...“

„See, they don’t have IV tubes here, Al, an’ you can’t drink that much, an’ you weren’t really conscious anyway, so she said the fastest way for you body to absorb that saline solution stuff was from behind,“ Burke explained in a rush. „At least that’s what Zana told me when I stumbled into your little get-together. Well, she told me afterwards, ‘cause I left that scene in a hurry, I can tell ya that much!“

Even in the darkness, Virdon felt the blood climb into his face; suddenly, being punched out by a fever didn’t seem to be such a bad thing. „I could’ve lived without that information, Pete.“

„I can tell you that Zana was a lot more careful than Urko was with me.“

 _I could’ve lived without that information, too._ But apparently, Pete had sensed, too, that this was their last opportunity to say what was on their mind... or their conscience.

„I want you to take this.“ He fumbled for the disc around his neck.

„Take what?“ Pete hadn’t moved from his place under the window. His face was invisible in the darkness, but his voice was wary.

„The disc...“ - „No way. That thing is yours.“

„Hear me out...“

„No!“ The shadow pushed away from the wall, and Virdon felt Burke’s weight settle on the cot. „I’m not gonna carry that dream for you, Al - if you want that thing to reach ANSA, you’ll get up from that operation table later, and walk all the way home to give it to them yourself!“

„This disc is more important than my dream.“ His eyes were closing all on their own now, and that terrible weariness made his next words slurred. „The information needs to reach them... they _must_ know... they must prevent it...“

And then he was drifting again, drifting away into another dream, one in which he was back on the _Icarus,_ arguing with Jones over the intercom about Burke’s release, because Burke was in the engine control room with Urko, and he couldn’t open the doors, because Jones had locked all the doors on the ship...

 _You can’t prevent it,_ Jones said. _You’ve been too slow, Alan._ Chris’ screams were far away now, and Virdon was stumbling through a maze of corridors, faded letters announcing ancient subway stations. _This has already happened,_ Jones commented over the intercom, _we’ve all been dead for a thousand years, Al. There’s no going back up the rabbithole._

The wormhole caught up with him and he dissolved into blackness.

* * *

Burke made it outside in time.

He hadn’t eaten since morning, and the thin gruel the humans had for breakfast had left his stomach a long time ago, and that made the whole business more painful; his stomach cramped up again and again, forcing acid and bile through his throat in pressed moans that he couldn’t suppress.

Cool, clammy hands had grabbed his shoulders at some point during his bout of nausea; they were too small and too light on his skin to be really steadying, but they were calming all the same, gave him something outside himself to focus on. Burke had half feared that the cramps would trigger another panic attack, that his body would take the violent jerks tugging at his midsection as a cue that it was on high alert, and that therefore, there had to be a _reason_ for alarm, but when the retching finally subsided, he just felt wrung out and miserable.

He turned away from the mess with an exhausted moan. The hands reappeared in his field of vision, offering him a mug. It was water, he discovered when he accepted it; Burke swished his mouth and drank a sip or two, careful not to trigger his upset stomach again.

Damn the colonel. The man could knock you over without even leaving the bed.

Burke breathed a deep sigh and took another sip from the mug. When he held out his hand to give it back, he finally looked up, unsurprised to find that the clammy hands belonged to the nameless girl. The one who he had almost killed for not an hour ago.

Yeah, well, that wasn’t exactly true. He had almost killed the guy for himself. Not for her. Burke was honest enough to admit to himself that it had simply felt good to let loose... to finally have a target for all the pent-up fear and rage that were festering in him.

„Thanks for the water.“ His voice was hoarse, roughed up from the stomach acid, and from all the growling and yelling during his caveman fight with her bully. „How’d you find me?“

The girl just shrugged and made to turn away.

„Wait! Hey! Please?“

Her steps faltered; she turned back to him, slowly, hesitantly, as if she was debating with herself, and Burke smiled a little ironic smile. She’d probably been warned not to come near him anymore. „C’mon, you don’t wanna go back in there - the beer tastes like piss, and the band is shit.“

He saw her frown in the pale light of the stars, puzzling over his words, but she didn’t seem to be on the verge of leaving anymore; she hugged her arms around her pitcher and silently contemplated him.

For a moment, they both listened to the silence, the light swishing of a breeze in the grass, and the distant cacophony of frogs in the swamps. Then Burke struggled to his feet. „Thank you for the water.“ He ambled in her general direction, not directly at her, passing her by a few feet away. „Let’s walk a few steps, huh? I made such a stinkin’ mess in that corner...“ He walked on without looking at her, and smiled a little when the rustle of her skirt told him that she had joined him.

They didn’t walk far, just a few steps, as he had promised her, and settled down in the dry grass at the wall of the humans’ housing. Burke folded his hands around one knee, the other leg stretched out on the sun-warmed gravel, and laid his head into his neck to stare up into the night sky. Beside him, the girl had hugged both knees against her chest, and was staring up into the sky, too.

Burke could feel the tension flow out of him in slow, lazy waves - into the ground, into the wall in his back, into the amazingly bright glitter thrown across the indigo sky above him. He didn’t feel anything, no rage, no fear, no grief, and that was excellent, and he wished he could stay that empty for the rest of his days. It was so... peaceful.

„You shouldn’t let them push you around like that,“ he murmured, his gaze still fixed at the sky. „Tell the apes... tell them to sell you off if they don’t want to stop this shit.“

He tore his gaze away from the stars above him to look at her when she didn’t answer. She was still staring upwards, her pale hair shimmering faintly in the starlight.

Burke had learned by now that humans with that color were rare and sought after by certain apes. Maybe his suggestion wasn’t that bright. Maybe being beaten up was still better than being forced to bear children that she would lose as soon as they were weaned off, to make big money for her owner. „Ah, forget it.“ He leaned his head back against the wall with a thud.

„Thank you for helping me.“ It was just a whisper, but Burke was pretty sure he hadn’t imagined it.

„Don’ mention it. Jus’ - don’t jus’ take it, y’know? Don’t let them sell you this shit that you deserve it somehow. Nobody deserves that.“ A thought struck him. „What’s your name, really?“

He saw her furiously chew her lip. „Come on,“ he prodded, „we’re alone, an’ I won’t tell. Scout’s honor!“

„Arna...“

„Arna,“ he repeated, because she needed to hear her name being spoken by someone else, „that’s a really nice name. Your mom had taste, you can tell her that from me.“

„My mother is dead.“ She was plucking at the grass, not looking at him.

Dead mom, shitty dad - yeah, he could relate to that. „Look, princess... Arna, don’t let people tell you that you’re evil, or that you don’t have a name. Your mom gave you that name, an’ that means nobody else has a right to decide if you can keep it or not, you understand me?“

Arna nodded. „They won’t say my name,“ she whispered.

„Doesn’t make a difference. _You_ know that it’s still yours, okay? That’s what matters.“ He awkwardly patted her shoulder. „Don’t let people mess with your head.“

The girl nodded and stood, slipping away from his hand. „You’re nice, Peet. Don’t let my... don’t let Travin make you angry.“

Burke smiled tiredly. „I’ll try not to. - Hey.“ He waited until she had turned around once more. „You know, my friend in there? He’s... he’s very ill.“ He waited, again, but she just stood there, her face in the shadows.

He stood, too, then, slowly and clumsily like an old man, and leaned against the wall behind him, all casual. „That doctor Kira is going to dig out the bullet in his body later tonight. She’s doing a test right now, and... and we need a bit of blood from everyone.“

Arna stumbled back a step, clutching her pitcher. She frantically shook her head. „No! No, my blood is bad! It’s cursed!“

Burke didn’t move; the girl was ready to bolt. „I don’t believe that. That’s just some shit the others told you. Remember what I just said, about not letting others mess with your head?“

His words didn’t have any effect; Arna was taking another step back. If he didn’t reach her now, she would run. „Anyway, even if it was cursed, your curses don’t work on the apes, right? Or can you curse Dr. Leander with your blood?“

That one made her think - Burke tore his lip through his teeth to hide his grin. „Never tried that? Damn, that would be a really neat trick - bet the others would be nice to you, if you could do them favours like that, huh?“

He saw the girl shrug and went in for the kill. „So, your blood is harmless for the doctor - so you can go over to the lab and let Dr. Kova take a bit, for the experiment, right?“

She stood there for a long moment, not moving a muscle, and Burke looked over her shoulder and chewed on the inside of his lip, and waited for her to sort through the lies and the truths of her world.

Finally, she nodded. „I think so... what you said sounds right...“

„’Cause it is,“ he said firmly. „Do you trust me?“

This time, she nodded instantly.

„That’s... that’s good,“ Burke said gently, surprised at the glowing sensation her words had woken in his chest. „So, go! They’re almost done over there.“ He watched her hurry across the dark courtyard, slowly sliding down the wall until he was sitting on his haunches again.

He was so. Tired. But the thought of going back into the cramped, stinking hole that the humans around here called their home made his skin crawl. Maybe he could camp out here, under the open sky. He had missed the sky... almost more than anything else...

The stars were so much brighter here, without all the light pollution - and the other pollution. They seemed to pulsate, to expand, and then, as Burke knew it would, if he could stare at it long enough without blinking, the whole sky seemed to drift down to him, come closer and closer, and if he could keep his eyes open long enough, it would engulf him... at least that was what his mom had told him back then, when he was little.

But he had never managed not to blink before that moment. Maybe that was why he had become an astronaut.

 _This is where we’re meant to be, Al,_ he thought, _up there, among the stars. Not on this shitty, god-forsaken planet. Not on_ any _planet. We weren’t born to be the lab rats, pets, farm animals, or scapegoats for the damn monkeys. We were kings once. We were warriors._

The night was breathing all around him, listening.

* * *

The laboratory was tiny, and Zana silently wondered why Galen had called her here to help him - it seemed to her that they were hampering each other instead. They constantly brushed against each other in the cramped space, or had to ask the other to hand over a glass slide, or the rack with the collected blood samples, because they couldn’t even pass each other to reach those things themselves in the narrow aisle between the wooden counters.

Somehow, Zana had ended up at the spinner, cranking the wheel so that the horizontal carousel at the top whirled the glass tubes around; the motion caused the blood to separate into red matter and a yellow liquid, in which the red stuff was usually suspended. Zana hadn’t known before that blood was anything else but a uniform red liquid, and under different circumstances, would have found the whole procedure fascinating; but the spinner stood at the far end of the chamber, which meant that Galen was between her and the door, operating the microscope and effectively blocking her escape. Not that she wanted to escape anything, but it did feel a bit claustrophobic.

For all their close proximity, Galen seemed strangely distant, barely speaking a word except for what was needed to complete the tests. Well, they had to work fast, to get results before the samples clotted in their tubes, Zana reasoned, and he had to be terribly tired after spending the whole day in the City to... do what, exactly?

„So, did you get whatever it was that is meant to help Alan?“ she asked, while she fitted the next set of tubes into the notches of the top wheel of the spinner.

„We did.“ Galen didn’t even lift his head to look at her; he stared through the brass tube of the microscope, as if he was watching the most interesting things in it.

Zana suppressed a sigh. „And what was it that you had to risk your lives for?“

Galen made a note on the paper beside him, and dragged the glass slide with his thumb to the edge of the small platform. He lifted it off and set it aside with utmost care before he answered. „Peet had found a book on surgery - surgery on humans, and he thought that it might convince Kira to operate on Alan. And he was right. Kira was pretty excited about the book.“

Zana stared at her hand that turned the spinner’s handle; she had to make sure that she kept the correct speed - Galen had explained that it was different for blood than for urine - and a steady pace.

It wouldn’t do if her annoyance inadvertently accelerated the damn thing.

„Where in the world would Peet have had the opportunity to find a book on human surgery?“ Then it dawned on her. „Zaius’ collection - _Mothers,_ you two didn’t break into the Council House again?“ She dared to tear her eyes away from the handle to stare at her fiancé, who returned her gaze, unimpressed.

„No, that wasn’t necessary - Zaius has transferred his treasures into his own home, away from nosy assistants.“ A tiny smile tugged at Galen’s lips, though it didn’t reach his eyes. „As luck would have it, we even secured an official invitation to his abode, although the Eldest couldn’t be there himself, to his utmost regret.“ He tersely recounted his and Peet’s encounter with Zaius’ guards, and Zana found herself strangely shy to interrupt, or to scold him for their mad heist. There was a guarded tension in his limbs and around his eyes; he suddenly reminded her of Alan, somehow.

She averted her eyes and fixed her gaze at the handle again. „Why does Zaius need a personal guard all of a sudden?“

From the corner of her eye, she saw Galen put another glass slide on the microscope’s table and secure it with its metal clamps. „I dare say that _that_ was Urko’s decision. Apparently, the Eldest just barely escaped an assassination... with rotten fruit.“

Zana snorted, but Galen didn’t join her laughter. „Urko has Zibaya and some others arrested," he muttered. "This could end badly.“

„Good thing I didn’t take your parents up on their offer to stay with them, then,“ Zana remarked. She stopped the handle and took out the first of the glass tubes. „I doubt that even your father could protect me from that Gorilla anymore. I’m safer with you than with them.“ She threw a quick smile at him, but he was already staring through the microscope again.

„I suppose so,“ he murmured after a long moment. „I’m glad that you trust me so much in that regard.“

Zana blinked, pipet frozen in mid-air. „Why wouldn’t I trust you?“

Galen made another note. „This one isn’t compatible, either. How many samples do we have left, Zana?“

“... six.“ Apprehension climbed into her chest, a cold, clammy feeling that slowly spread into her arms, like mould. „Is something wrong, dear?“

Galen started with a sharp inhale, as if shaken from deep concentration. „No. No, of course not. It was, it was a long day. I had to tear Peet away from another human. He was attacking it so ferociously, I thought he was going to kill it.“

Now it was Zana’s turn to hiss in alarm. Peet had been on edge ever since he had regained consciousness, but time didn’t seem to make things better, on the contrary. „But you did get there in time!“

„I did,“ Galen said darkly. „ _This_ time. What about next time? And what if he then attacks- not a human, but an ape? He could not only get himself killed, but the rest of us, too.“ He leaned back in his chair and frowned at her. „It pains me to say, but Peet has become dangerous. He has lost control over his reactions, and, and we can’t trust him right now. _He_ can’t trust _himself_ right now. He’s unpredictable.“

She needed to draw the yellow liquid into the pipet, Zana reminded herself. She needed a steady hand right now, a steady breath. Nothing would be decided about Peet without her consent.

Nothing.

„So what are you suggesting?“ she asked, after she had placed a few drops of the liquid on one of the glass slides. „That we muzzle him and put him on a leash?“ She flicked him a sharp glance, when he didn’t answer. „You can’t be serious! After all he’s gone through...“

„Exactly,“ Galen said, still in that calm, sensible voice. „After all he has suffered under Urko, he now regards apes as dangerous. His instinct tells him to attack. And attack he will, Zana, and in the most disastrous moment possible. This is for his own protection! What do you think the prefects will do to him after such an incident?“

Now she had to mix the yellow liquid with the red stuff from one of the other glass tubes. And she had to pay attention to the labels, so that they didn’t confuse whose blood components they had mixed. She had to focus.

„If we do this,“ she said finally, and handed Galen the prepared slide, „Peet will never trust us again. And that means we’ll have to gag and bind him for the rest of our lives, however long they will be. Then I’ll be just another pet owner... that is not what I gave up my former life for.“

Galen looked at her strangely. „What _did_ you get your former life up for?“

She couldn’t read his expression, but it made her breath catch in her throat. „For... for doing the right thing,“ she stammered.

„The right thing,“ Galen repeated slowly. Then he turned to gaze into the microscope again, and Zana turned away to mix another pair of red and yellow, only her hands trembled ever so slightly and made it difficult to dip the pipet into the glass tube.

„Humans are people, you know that they are, Galen,“ she said after a long moment of silence; she felt sad, without knowing why. „They aren’t ape-people, they’re human-people, and they’re different from us, but they do have... have... grace.“ Mothers, what an awkward word to use. But she couldn’t think of a better one.

„I can’t deny that Peet moved quite gracefully in for the kill,“ Galen said dryly, his gaze still fixed on the eyepiece.

„That’s not what I mean,“ Zana said, annoyed. „I won’t violate his dignity, and I won’t allow anyone to do that to him, either.“

„Peet can count himself lucky to have such a determined protector in you,“ Galen said evenly. „You’ve obviously given a lot of thought to the subject of a person’s dignity.“ He reached for the next slide, and Zana handed it to him with a frown.

„Obviously I have, yes,“ she said. „I’ve worked with humans for years, and I couldn’t help but notice- are you mocking me? You sound like Kira all of a sudden!“

„I’m not mocking you.“ Galen inserted the slide and bent down over the microscope once again. „But what this comes down to in the end is a question of trust, not of dignity. Do you trust Peet with your life? With all our lives? When you can’t properly train him, while we’re on the road? You know how dangerous our life is right now - you need to choose wisely who to trust.“

The question hung in the air, while she stared at her fiancé who pretended not to notice.

„Yes,“ she said finally, „I do trust Peet. And you should, too.“

„I’m glad you trust... trust Peet, even in his current state of mind.“ Galen pushed away from the microscope. „Also, we have a compatible match. Two compatible matches, even.“ He stood and turned towards the door. „You tell Kira that she can send for Alan,“ he said over his shoulder, „I’ll go find the two humans who can give him blood.“ With that, he was out of the door.

Zana stared after him. Whatever had happened with Peet and that other human had shaken Galen badly. He was right - Peet’s current emotional state made him unpredictable; but she would decide how they’d deal with that. And she’d also take the blame for the results. It seemed to her that Galen was already laying the blame at her feet, anyway.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t just about Peet.

* * *

Listening to the frogs in the swamps was almost hypnotic... as long as he carefully avoided thinking about the last incident where he had heard that word. Burke listened to the monotonous croaking that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, a tapestry of sound that was slowly cloaking his mind, drowning out all thought, letting him drift deeper-

He jerked up, heart racing.

And let his head drop against the wall with a groan. It was always like this now - dozing off a dozen times or more and startling awake again, until exhaustion finally tackled him and threw him into unconsciousness.

Damn monkeys had trained him well in that cage. Burke shivered as he remembered how one of them had shoved a hot splint up his nose when he had nodded off. He had learned to keep alert to them approaching, the sneaky bastards, and now it had become so ingrained that he couldn’t turn it off anymore.

At least it made him aware of the ape approaching him now, before his instincts could throw him into another clusterfuck reaction. It helped that the ape made no attempt to hide his presence; his boots were crunching on the gravel as he strode towards him.

It was Galen. He stopped no three feet away and gazed down at him for a moment. Burke returned the gaze with a blank stare. He was too exhausted to be surprised, or wary.

„Are you sleeping out here?“ Galen finally asked.

Burke rubbed his face. „Trying to. I don’t think they want me in there. And it stinks. And I... never mind.“ _And I can’t stand being in a cage anymore,_ but that was something he couldn’t bring himself to confess to the ape. Bad enough that it had been Galen who had seen him breaking down earlier.

Twice.

If the chimp was following his train of thought, he didn’t show it. „We found two matching donors.“

Burke scrambled to his feet. „You did? That’s... that’s fantastic!“ Virdon’s blood type was 0 negative, something that should’ve made him ineligible for deep space missions, if Burke would’ve had anything to say. He had hoped that they’d find at least one human among the two dozen or so that the apes were keeping here, but statistics couldn’t make predictions for any specific case. But... two! They had two matching donors!

For the first time since that cursed river crossing, he dared to hope that things would turn out okay. That Al... He took a deep breath. „So, can we start? Should I get Al?“

„You need to get me that human first.“

Burke blinked. „’That human’? I thought you said you had two...“

Galen sighed. „The other human is nowhere to be found. I hope it’s not the one you attacked.“

Burke rubbed his face again, out of exhaustion, and embarrassment. „You’ve got their name?“

„Tomeh.“

„Ah, no. That’s not the one I... uh. I remember Tomeh, he was afraid that your doctor friend would use his blood sample to put a hex on him.“

„Superstitious humans,“ Galen muttered.

„Yeah, well, it was your decision to keep them poor an’ ignorant. Don’t complain about the results.“ He was too tired to feel upset anymore, but he couldn’t let it slide, that casual contempt. Galen treated him and Al alright, but that courtesy apparently didn’t extend to his own world’s humans.

Galen ignored his remark. „I sent Travin, but he reported that he couldn’t find Tomeh. Nobody has seen him since the last feeding, either. He may have run away.“

Burke cursed under his breath. While the guy wouldn’t get far before the police would collect him, Al didn’t have the luxury to wait that long, and besides, they’d have the damn police underfoot! „Who’s the other one?“

„The girl that you... protected.“

„Her name’s Arna.“

Galen turned his palm upward as if to say, damned if I care. „For whatever reason, Travin has declared the girl taboo, so I can’t expect him to, well, to ‘find’ her.“

„I’ll get her.“ Burke pushed away from the wall and turned to leave. He had no friggin’ idea where a bullied girl might hide, so he’d just do a systematic sweep of the clinic grounds.

„Take her directly to the operating room,“ Galen advised him. „We will prepare Alan in the meantime. We need you there in any case - you’ll have to read the instructions to Kira.“

Burke found her at the well, scooping water. „Don’t you ever sleep?“ It had to be way past midnight by his estimation - the apes used clocks, but he couldn’t read them, any more than he could read their script.

Arna shrugged and began to turn the crank. „I like this time - it’s so quiet.“

Nobody awake to shove her around, Burke translated silently. „Yeah, I like it, too. But you shouldn’t work then - enjoy the peace and quiet, y’know? Find a nice spot to watch the stars.“ He grabbed the full bucket that had floated up to them, and put it on the top of the brick wall. „I’m glad I found you here, though... remember my friend? Told you he had a bullet in his hip.“

Arna nodded and eyed the bucket. Burke casually draped his arm over it.

„Dr. Kira is gonna operate on him now. They’re carrying him over to the operation room.“

„I hope everything goes well for him,“ Arna said shyly.

„It will.“ He forced a determination into his voice that he didn’t really feel. „Ga- Dr. Kova says she’s the best surgeon he ever met, an’... just in case something _should_ happen... they’ve come up with this new treatment.“ He chewed on the inside of his lip. Arna was watching him warily. He had to tread carefully now. These people were totally crazy when it came to their blood.

„They did this lab experiment I told you about, an’... they found someone who could give a bit of their blood to Al, if he loses too much of his own.“ He broke off when Arna began to shake her head and backed away. „Look, just a bit - it’s completely safe...“

„No! No! You can’t take my blood!“ There was a shrill note of hysteria in the girl’s voice. She was on the verge of tears. „It’s cursed! It’s evil!“

„No it’s not! I told you that’s bullshit! You aren’t evil, you’re the nicest girl I’ve met in a long time!“ Burke quickly crossed the short distance between them and grabbed her by the shoulders - not hard, just firm enough that she wouldn’t race off into the darkness like that fool Tomeh had.

His touch was the last straw for her. She started to struggle in his grip, crying for real now. „Let me go! Let me go, please!“

He couldn’t let her go. She was Al’s last chance. „Arna, calm down. I swear, it won’t harm you!“

„You don’t understand! I don’t care what happens to me!“ Arna screamed, still throwing herself against his grip like a bird against the bars of its cage, frantic to escape. „My blood, it kills! I don’t want to kill your friend! Not again, not again, not again...“

And then she crumpled in his arms, breaking down like Al had when he was shot, and all Burke could do was to sink down to the ground with her, cradling her in his arms and holding her against his chest as she was shaking in the grip of an agony he didn’t understand. He held her, stunned, rubbing her back while she fisted his shirt and poured out an eternity of grief and pain, in the desperate cries of a dying animal.

„Jesus Christ, girl,“ he murmured into her hair when her throat became too raw to scream, when he felt exhaustion sweep over her like a warm gust, loosening her fists. She was leaning against him, limp and heavy, her face still buried in his damp shirt. He kept rubbing her back in slow strokes, up and down. „They really did a number on you.“

„She’s a murderer!“

They both flinched at the voice, and Burke felt the adrenaline pour into his veins like acid, bright and cold and humming with deadly promise. He raised his head.

Travin was looming over them, a bitter scent in the night. „Tell him.“

Arna moaned, a pitiful little sound in his shirt. „No... please!“

_„Tell him!“_

Burke could feel new moisture soaking his shirt. Arna was crying silently now, and it broke his heart. „You don’t have to tell me anything,“ He murmured into her ear, „but if you do, I promise I won’t judge. I’ve done pretty stupid things myself.“

„I... I killed my brother,“ her voice was small, miserable.

„He was sixteen.“ Travin’s voice was full of pain now, pain and wrath. „My only son.“

Burke looked at him, back on Arna’s head, her face still buried in his shirt, back at Travin. „What happened?“

The girl didn’t answer. „He was out hunting with Director Leander.“ Travin answered for her. Burke saw his fists clench and unclench. „There was an accident. When they returned to the clinic with him, he was already unconscious. He had... he had lost too much blood.“

He paused, and Burke could hear his heavy breaths in the darkness. Maybe he was crying, too. „The doctors were doing experiments back then, with, with taking blood from one animal and giving it to another. I told them they could use my son in the experiment.“ The words came faster now, as if Travin, too, had waited a long time to tell this story. „He was dying! I didn’t put his life in danger, this was a way to save him!“

„But something went wrong,“ Burke prompted, when the silence stretched. „You said he died.“

„They took _her_ blood,“ Travin pointed an accusing finger at Arna. „Because she was his sister. Because she was family. And at first, all went well, and he even woke up and talked to me. But when they gave him her blood the second time, he cried out in agony! Said it was like fire in his veins! Then he... he cramped. And, and couldn’t stop. The doctors sent me away then.“ Burke heard him take a shuddering breath. „And when they allowed me to come back in, my boy was dead. He was dead. She killed him, with her evil blood!“

„It wasn’t her fault,“ Burke said, his arms tightening reflexively around the girl. „Humans have different... types of blood, like, like different kinds of drinks? Some don’t get along well with others, like when you mix beer and wine, and others are perfect for each other, like vodka and, uh... oper juice.“

He felt Arna’s breath calm down; she was listening to him, at least. The same couldn’t be said for Travin. „Are you saying _I_ killed my son? I was trying to save him! _She_ killed him with her bad blood, and she’ll kill your friend, too!“

 _You don’t give a damn if Al lives or dies._ Then it hit him. „You’re not worried she’ll kill him - you’re worried he’ll live. ‘Cause that would throw your little theory right out of the window, an’ then what? Maybe you made the wrong decision back then. Maybe it’s not her fault at all, but damn, it was so convenient to blame her, right?“

„I tried to save him! He was dying, there was no other way!“ Burke was sure that Travin was crying now, and yeah, he could understand the old man’s grief. But he couldn’t let him take it out on the girl any longer. This had to stop.

„You don’t know that, and that’s what’s eating you up inside. You can’t stop wondering if you didn’t kill him, in the end.“ He chased away the memory of Remo, beaming with pride for his ‘windy-mill’. He wouldn’t think of Vanda now... Burke drew a deep breath and continued. „So you made up this story about a curse, an’ told it everyone until they believed it, and until you believed it yourself. Because that’s easier than to believe that you are his murderer.“             

„No!“ Travin made a step towards them, fists raised, and Burke came to his feet in one fluid motion, drawing Arna up with him. Travin stopped, chest heaving. „No, it’s not true, he’s lying! If you give your blood to that stranger, you’ll spread the curse! You’ll kill his friend, and then he’ll kill you!“

Arna turned around, slowly, as if dazed; and then Burke felt her leaning back into him, like he had leaned against the wall earlier, seeking support. „I wouldn’t care.“ Her voice was quiet. „I’ve been dead for a long time.“

Travin went utterly still. For a long moment, father and daughter regarded each other silently.

Then he stalked away into the night.

Burke felt the girl take a shaky breath. He rubbed her arms. „That was a great comeback, hit him right between the eyes. But you’re not dead, okay? And I’m not gonna hurt you, no matter what happens to Al. It won’t be your fault, understood?“

She nodded.

Then she took his hand.

„I’m ready.“


	6. Chapter 6

„They do have anaesthesia, Al. I checked.“

Kira decided not to comment on the human’s prattle. The dark haired one struck her as volatile and not entirely tame, probably a result of Zana’s overindulgent training style. He had been involved in some trouble in one of the corridors earlier - fighting with one of her own humans over a female. She sighed. Humans were always in season, unfortunately.

And now he was commenting on their surgical equipment and procedures as if he had expected less of them, and was cautiously surprised about their level of sophistication. Kira scoffed silently at that notion; the human had gotten his funny ideas from Zana, she’d bet her microscope on that!

She handed Galen a surgical hood and mask - no matter how well a fur was brushed, tiny particles of dust and dirt were always sitting in it, and if Kira had learned one thing in her years as surgeon, it was that the more diligently she covered up every single hair on her body, the less complications the patients suffered from post-surgical infections. It wasn’t a practice that was widely accepted, as far as she knew, but in her own operation rooms, it was an iron rule that she enforced on everyone who went in with her.

„You need to tell your human to suit up, if he wants to read that book to me in there,“ she said to Galen. „I still think he should read it from the preparation room to me - I can hear him just as well from there, and he won’t drag that old, dusty tome into my clean theater.“ It was unhygienic... but having humans in there was unhygienic by definition, so she had allowed it anyway. She was breaking all the rules tonight; she only hoped Leander would never learn about it.

The humans were already in position - Galen’s human on the operating table, and a young female, whose blood was, according to Galen, compatible with his human’s blood, lying on a second table that Galen and his other human had carried in from the other operating room. It was cramped, even without Galen’s human hovering around his companion. But she intended to make good use of him if he was here anyway, and he would read the book to her.

Kira was dying to know what was written in that human book, in human script that this dark wildling was able to read, for some reason. She’d happily break some more rules, if she could learn new skills from that thing.

„Very well,“ she addressed her surgical team - she sighed; Galen and his human. What a team. „Are you ready to begin? No? Doesn’t matter. As long as you do what I say, and don’t panic before I do, everything will be fine. And if you have to faint, do it outside.“ She nodded to the human. „Put him under.“

The human nodded back, dark eyes huge and frightened over his mask, and turned to put the cotton mask over his companion’s face. „I’ll dribble this stuff on the fabric,“ he explained to him, voice muffled under his surgical mask, „and you just breathe naturally. Okay? No worries, Al, you won’t feel a thing.“

„At least until I get the bill,“ Al joked. Kira shook her head.

It didn’t take long; it never did. A few deep breaths, and the human slipped into unconsciousness. „I want you to keep a finger at his carotid and feel the pulse at all times,“ Kira instructed the dark one. „And keep an eye on his breathing, too. When they speed up, give him some more ether; if they slow down too much, tell me.“

„How much is too much?“ The human’s voice sounded strained; having second thoughts, Kira thought sardonically.

„Well, if his lips turn blue, I’d say it’s high time you said something.“

„You’re such a bundle of joy,“ the human muttered, and laid two fingers on the patient’s throat. Galen rubbed some more brandy on the operating field and aligned the lamps.

Kira picked up a scalpel. „So, start reading. Where do I make the first incision?“

„What is going on here?“

A surgeon cannot panic during surgery; the patient’s life depends on it. Kira had always been grateful for her inability to startle, although she would suffer a belated reaction long after the fact. So she kept her gaze fixed on the scalpel in her hand, hovering steadily over the red and swollen hole in the pale skin beneath her. „Continuing education in surgical technique, Leander - you know my opinion about surgeons who become complacent.“

She flicked a sharp glance at him when she heard him take a step into the room. „You aren’t covered, doctor! It may just be a human, but I don’t want my study to be compromised by uncontrolled external factors... like the dust in your hair.“

Leander stopped where he was, although he made no move to leave. His eyes wandered over the assembled team, stopping for a moment on Galen’s conscious human, who’d had the good sense to nudge the book out of view in the meantime, and finally honing in on the girl. „What is she doing here?“

„The human has been injured during a hunting accident,“ Kira said absently, and made the first incision. „A bullet is lodged somewhere in his pelvic area, and the wound has gotten infected to a degree that we cannot control it any longer without removing the source of the infection first.“ She sliced the deeper layers under the skin; bloody fluid welled up and Galen’s „orderly“ hissed in alarm. „Dr. Kova, suction here.“

To Galen’s credit, he didn’t hesitate; with a swift motion, he dipped the silver canule of the suction pump - which simply was the biggest syringe they had - into the bloody lake, and retracted the plunger. After he had emptied its content into the bucket under the table, he had to apply it three more times before Kira could finally see the human’s guts. „I will check the colon for injuries now.“ She nodded to Galen. „Spreader. - Are you going to stand there and contaminate my op field, Leander, or do you want to help?“

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Leander clasp his hands behind his back. „I’m still unclear why that female is here - aren’t you afraid of contamination by her?“

„We’ll use her blood in case of severe abdominal bleeding in this one,“ Kira muttered without looking up. Mothers, this was exactly the situation she had hoped to avoid! How had Leander gotten wind of her little unscheduled experiment?

„We already experimented with blood transfusion, Kira.“ She could hear the frown in his voice. „We realized it doesn’t work. It’s against the laws of nature. I didn’t authorize this.... You didn’t even ask me.“ He made a step towards the table. „You knew that I wouldn’t allow you to repeat that failed experiment, so you decided to go behind my back!“

„I insisted on it, Director,“ Galen interjected. „We are trying a new procedure, I, I heard about it when I was traveling in the Northern Mountains. Apparently, they use it there with excellent results. I’m just a humble country doctor, so I didn’t want to try it myself, but Dr. Kira here is an extraordinary surgeon.“

„You’ll close up now, Doctor.“ There was a growl in Leander’s voice that Kira had never heard before.

She ignored it.

The colon was unharmed, as far as she could tell. She was certain she hadn’t left anything out. The bullet had to sit farther back; it had probably traveled along the iliac bone.

„Did you hear me, Kira? Close up, this experiment is being terminated!“

„It is my human we’re experimenting on, director, and as you can see, it is injured - we’re not doing this out of idle curiosity.“ Galen’s voice was calm and... cold. Kira couldn’t remember that she had ever noticed that steely determination in him before.

„It may be your human, but this is my clinic,“ Leander snapped. „My equipment.“

Kira felt her head lift as if on its own. „But I’m not your surgeon,“ she heard herself say. „At least not in the sense that you’re using the word.“

The shock she saw in his eyes matched the shock she felt at her own words. How calm she had sounded! Much calmer than she felt right now. „I can learn something new here, Leander.“ Maybe she could still find a way to reach him. „Without any risk to our clinic or our humans. Dr. Kova here provided us with a free specimen. How could I ignore this opportunity?“

Leander stared at her for a long moment; Kira stared back, frozen, her hand with the scalpel hovering in mid-air. She wished she could read his face.

With an abrupt motion, Leander leaned out of the door and reached for his surgical garb. „Very well.“ He shrugged into the scrub and pulled the hood over his head. „Let us learn something new tonight.“ He took position at the other side of the table, looming over Galen, but his gaze stayed fixed on her face.

„I am, as always, eager to see you in action.“

* * *

Maybe it was too early to pack their things, but Zana needed something to do for her hands, and the act seemed to signal that they would soon have left this latest crisis behind them. She wasn’t completely clear to whom she was signaling her exasperation with this whole episode - maybe the Mothers - but it felt strangely relieving to collect their belongings from the table and the cupboard, and from under the bed; retracting the fine roots they had dug into the place as soon as they had stayed longer than a day.

They rarely stayed longer than a day anywhere, Zana realized; she had almost forgotten how easily one spread out over an area one claimed as one’s own. Whenever she thought she had gathered everything, she’d stumble over one more thing. And then she had to reorder the contents of their backpacks, so that everything would fit into it.

One cloth-wrapped bundle slipped from her fingers and rolled away when the fabric unfolded. Zana bent to retrieve it and started a bit when she discovered that it was Peet’s horse pendant. She had meant to give it back to him as soon as they had found him, but Peet had been so gruff to her... She had told herself that under all his hostility, Peet was simply afraid, but that hadn’t made it easier, on the contrary.

Zana slowly sank down on the bed, staring at the little wooden figurine in her hand. Yes, she had meant to give it back to him as soon as the right opportunity would present itself, but somehow, the right opportunity never seemed to arise.

The clatter of hoofbeats from the yard jerked her out of her reverie. The sound had become a signal of grave danger, something that immediately sent her heart racing, making her fur bristle and her lips curl with panic. She jumped up and hurried to the window, careful not to show herself to whoever had entered the yard below.

Torches and moving shadows, yellow light dancing on black uniforms. Police. Zana took a shuddering breath, but forced herself to stay and have a closer look. If she wanted to warn Galen and Peet, she needed to give them useful information. How many men, and...

They had a human in their midst; Zana could see him stumbling behind a rider. They had probably tied his rope to the saddlehorn, it was difficult to see in the weak light. Zana remembered that Galen had sent Travin to get a human whose blood was compatible with Alan’s... Tomeh. But Tomeh had run away. A patrol had to have crossed paths with him by chance - humans weren’t allowed to roam the streets after dark.

She allowed herself a tiny sigh of relief. It had just been a coincidence. The patrol was here to bring back a runaway human, not to search the grounds for four fugitives-

\- and then she heard Urko’s voice.

For a moment, Zana froze, panic filling her chest like cold mud. Urko was here, Urko had been questioning Tomeh, Urko would start searching the clinic grounds, the corridors, the operating rooms...

Galen was in surgery with Kira, and so was Peet, helping them, reading the book that would enable Kira to save Alan’s life. Alan, who was lying naked on that table, unconscious, helpless.

Zana clenched her fists.

Then she yanked open the door and sprinted down the corridor, to director Leander’s office. No matter what the man thought about them, he wouldn’t want to get caught up in the fallout of Kira’s decision to accept Galen’s plea. That Chimpanzee was way too ambitious to allow Urko to destroy his career and reputation.

Leander wasn’t in his office. Zana stopped a young intern in the corridor. „Where is the director? There is police in the yard!“

„Director Leander is in the operating room with Doctor Kira,“ the Chimp said. „I’ll take care of the police, ma’am, they just brought back one of our humans.“

Zana grabbed him by the lapels of his lab coat and dragged him into Leander’s office. „You don’t understand!“ she hissed, „this is _Urko_ in the yard! Do you really think the Chief General would bother to come here just to deliver one of your runaway slaves?“

„Wha- what do you mean?“ the Chimp stuttered, nervously smoothing his crumpled coat. „Why _is_ he here?“

„To arrest the director!“ Zana snapped. „Which means that your career will be over, too, even if he doesn’t arrest you!“

„But I didn’t do anything!“ the Chimp protested; panic made his voice shrill. „Why should he arrest me? Why would he arrest Doctor Leander?“

„The general is known to be not very discriminating when he makes arrests,“ Zana informed him. „He prefers to sort them out later. Of course, being released won’t help you at all when you’ll try to find a new position. Nobody cares if you were innocent _in the end -_ they won’t even bother to read your resume once they come across the name Urko.“

Now the young ape was really panicking. „Oh Mothers! Oh Mothers, oh Mothers, oh Mothers...“ He tore at his hair, something that Zana wished she could do, too, but she had to keep her wits together.

„We have to get him off the clinic grounds!“ she said. „If he doesn’t find incriminating material, he can’t arrest your director. Then you’ll be safe, too.“

The ape let go of his fur and stared at her. „What material?“

Zana leaned in for a conspiratorial whisper. „You remember the blood transfusion experiments they did a while ago?“ The Chimp nodded. „They started them again - but this time, they try to transfuse blood from an ape to a human. And Urko thinks that’s blasphemy,“ Zana whispered. „He has no understanding for science, for the courage of the scientist, or for the sacrifices one has to make for the sake of simian progress. If it was up to him, we’d still call for the priests to pray over our children’s appendicitis.“

„The... the director wants to transfuse his own blood into a _human? Why?“_ The Chimp looked at once excited and disgusted. Zana decided to change her tactic.

„Look - what’s your name again?“

„Stole.“

„Look, Stole - of course Doctor Leander won’t use himself as test subject. It was the idea of Doctor Kova, who is using one of our own humans for it. But Leander is there to oversee the experiment, which means he authorized it and is responsible for it, and that’s enough for the general to arrest him and accuse him of blasphemy!“ She waited a moment to let this sink in, although she could feel her time running out. „I’m sorry my husband’s scientific daring has dragged you into this situation, but if you don’t want to live out your days in one of Urko’s interrogation cellars, you better help me to deter him and his baboons.“

Stole stared at her, panting. „What do I have to do?“ His panic had turned into mad resolve. Zana held his gaze a moment longer; then she nodded lightly.

„You’ll inform him that his life is in grave danger here.“

* * *

The atmosphere in the operating room was humming with tension as if they were in the eye of a storm - they were coated in a thick, deceptively calm silence, only punctuated by Kira’s terse commands to correct the lighting, or to hand her an instrument. Leander was a silent presence at Galen’s shoulder, his eyes tracking Kira’s hands like a cat observing its prey.

A big cat.

Galen admired how unmoved Kira seemed to be. She was completely focused on her work, systematically searching for the bullet, stitching together torn blood vessels, pulling aside guts and membranes to get at the hip bone where she suspected the lump of metal had lodged.

„Better put a clamp on that vessel, doctor.“

Galen flinched when the deep voice suddenly sounded at his right ear. Now he was exactly where he had never wanted to be - in a surgery with Doctor Leander. _I only sat in the lectures, I never even cut into a corpse!_

To his surprise, it was Peet who handed him the clamp; after a hasty glance to where Kira had already placed another one, he set his own and slowly, cautiously exhaled as the bleeding stopped.

„Clean that up, Kova. I need to see what I’m working on.“ Kira’s voice was matter of fact, but Galen couldn’t help but flinch again. He dipped the syringe into the little pool of blood that had collected in Alan’s intestines, and retracted the plunger.

„That bucket is filling up... don’t you think we should start with the transfusion?“ he asked when he straightened again.

Kira hesitated; she flicked a glance at Peet, who still had his fingers at Alan’s throat. His dark eyes were fixed at his friend’s flank, monitoring their movement as if hypnotized. „How is his pulse?“ Kira asked.

Peet’s shoulders rose and fell as he took a quick breath. „Slow. But... okay, I think.“

Kira’s brows rose. „You think?“

Peet looked up; his eyes were huge. He was afraid, Galen thought. „I can feel his pulse, Doctor Kira. It’s not strong, but I have no problem feeling it.“

Kira glanced at Galen. „We wait with the transfusion.“ She lowered her gaze back to the bowels that glistened in the light of the surgical lights.

Galen understood her hesitation - after the disastrous results of their former experiment, Kira didn’t want to use this experimental treatment if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. She might not think a human was worth the trouble of doing surgery on at all, but once he was on her table, she’d treat him the same as any ape. He smiled wistfully behind his mask. Kira took great pride in her skill; she wouldn’t allow her standards to slip.

„I can see the bullet,“ Kira said.

Galen drew a deep breath. Finally. At Alan’s head, Peet closed his eyes for a moment.

Then he noticed that Kira’s hands weren’t moving. „What’s the matter, doctor? You just said you can see the bullet...“

„I can see it,“ Kira said grimly. „But I can’t reach it. It’s trapped between that nerve and the big leg vein. And it looks as if it’s plugging up a blood vessel. The moment I move it, this will bleed like nothing you’ve seen before.“

„If you clamp the vessel...“

„You don’t understand! I can damage the nerve if I can’t see anything under the pooling blood, and if the blood vessel ruptures, he’ll go into shock and bleed out in moments. Do you really want to risk that?“

„If you close him up now, he’ll die from septic fever,“ Galen said with a calmness he didn’t feel. „So yes, I really want to risk that. I trust you not to kill your patient.“

Kira snorted. „Don’t misplace your trust. A number of patients have died on my table.“

Leander leaned in and took a long look at the bloody mess between the metallic spreaders. „There is no way of removing that, Kira. You’d better close up.“ His voice was cool and detached, as if he was consciously refraining from saying, _told you so._

Kira stared at him, the muscles of her face taut above the mask. Leander returned her glare with one of his own unreadable, catlike stares. Galen found himself looking at both of them by turns, as if he could catch a word of that silent conversation.

Then Kira turned her head to Peet. „You,“ she said. „Read me that chapter from the book.“

Galen felt the breath catch in his throat. That book was blasphemy, much like the one he had taken a long, long time ago. It could get her killed. If Leander informed Urko, it _would_ get her killed.

Peet was staring at her, apparently realizing the same dire truth. „Didn’t you hear me, boy?“ Kira snapped. „Read the damn book!“

Peet’s eyes flicked to him; then, one hand still at Alan’s neck, he pulled the book out from under the table with his other hand, and set it on the table.

Leander went very still all of a sudden, his gaze fixed on the book, then on Peet, whose eyes were rapidly scanning the text, the undecipherable symbols on the page, to find the right passage, the one that would save his friend’s life.

„You obviously have things well in hand here, doctors,“ Leander purred. „I think I can return to my other duties.“ He stepped back from the table.

Galen squeezed himself between Leander and the door. „I must ask you to stay, director; you wouldn’t want to miss this.“ He looked up, into the taller ape’s eyes. But Leander’s gaze was resting on his hand.

The hand holding a scalpel.

For a tiny moment, the memory of Alan flicked up in Galen’s mind: eyes bright with a terrible joy, the scalpel cold and bright against Maltus’ throat. And for a moment, he understood that joy, that elation, when a tiny scrap of metal erased all differences of height, of status, of power. When the most dangerous thing in the room was him.

Leander was looking at Kira, who was following Peet’s murmured instructions, easing a forceps into the wound. „Why, Kira?“

Kira didn’t look up from her work. „Because I’m a doctor. It’s my duty to be the best surgeon I can be, and to not reject any source of learning, no matter its origin.“

„This book is blasphemy!“ Leander growled.

„This book holds knowledge we can use.“ Kira held her breath; she had to be near the bullet now. „I would be a fool to close my eyes before the truth.“

„The truth! That book isn’t truth! It’s treason! It’s madness!“

Kira’s hand stilled. „The book exists,“ she said, very quietly. „Madness is to deny what exists.“

She slowly retracted her hand.

And then pulled it back with a curse all of a sudden. Blood welled up, too much blood, too quickly, and Kira dropped the forceps into the metal tray. „Clamp!“

Galen found himself transfixed by Peet’s panicked stare. „I can’t feel Alan’s pulse, doc!“ He swallowed.

„And he’s not breathing!“

* * *

The plague mask was a bizarre contraption; with its long snout and huge goggles, it turned the staff into nightmarish ghosts that reminded Zana of dead birds. It helped that the protective robes were colored bright red, for greatest warning effect even at a distance.

And they now all looked the same, which meant she could stay nearby and monitor Stole’s dealing with Urko, who was balancing on the balls of his feet, thumbs hooked into his belt, and pinning him down with a grimly amused stare. „Kahrna fever? Never heard of it.“

„I don’t expect you to, General,“ Stole said, and Zana admired the lazy arrogance dripping from his voice. „You’re not a physician, after all. I wouldn’t presume to know how to secure the city gates, either. I do know, however, how to secure the clinic, so that the fever won’t spread like wildfire over the City.“

He did, Zana admitted silently. Stole’s transformation from a panicking young intern to a medical commander bellowing orders had been a sight to behold. In mere moments, all patient wards, every security door in the corridors, and the outer doors of the clinic had been closed and covered with plague cloths. The humans had been driven into their stable and locked in - that had been something Zana had overseen herself, to make sure that the troublemaker Travin would have no chance to come into contact with Urko. The plague flag had been hoisted up above the roof, and the staff had been ordered to wear protective gear and stay inside until Stole had dealt with the police. Apparently, Leander had been conducting emergency drills on a regular basis; everything had run smoothly and quickly, and by the time Urko had dismounted and ordered his men to spread out, all doors had already been locked.

For now, the surgical team was safely tucked away. They were probably not even aware of the drama going down in the yard. Zana was determined to keep it that way.

„I heard some interesting stories about medical experiments going on here,“ Urko said softly. „Seems like some strangers were visiting the good doctor and incited him to try his hands at blasphemy. And now you're trying to keep me from having a look at the evidence by pulling some made-up sickness out of your ass. How stupid do you think I am?“

Stole wisely decided to ignore that question. „I for my part stopped listening to _stories_ after I left the nursery.“

Urko’s eyes narrowed, and Zana felt her heartbeat pick up. Stole seemed to be blissfully unaware of the tension crackling in the air, as he continued, „And I don’t want to speculate about the source of that story, General, but there is a reason why we don’t accept humans as witnesses in court. The fever seemed to have entered the City a few days ago, only infecting humans at first, which is how it escaped our attention. But you may have heard about Zaius’ body servant.“

„I heard it’s dead,“ Urko growled.

„Is it? That was fast. Nurse, remind me to add that information to my notes after the general has left!“

Zana nodded, inwardly cursing Stole for having directed Urko’s attention to her. She felt his eyes bore into her through the leather of her mask, and stood perfectly still, not daring to move a muscle - it was entirely possible that Urko would recognize her by the way she walked, or by some habitual gesture she wasn’t even conscious of.

After an eternity, Urko directed his gaze back to Stole. „It’s a human plague. No need to put this clinic under quarantine.“

„The illness has jumped species,“ Stole said coldly, „and it is even more aggressive in apes than it is in humans. So far, we have no reports from infections outside this clinic, and I like to keep it that way. That means I cannot allow you or your men to drag your bodies all over the grounds, collect the miasma of the sick ward in your fur, and then spread it all over the city. In case you've forgotten, General, you aren’t the only one sworn to protect the citizens from harm.“

Urko unhooked his thumbs from his belt and ambled closer until he was directly in Stole’s face. Zana saw the young doctor’s back stiffen as he refused to step back; her respect for him increased tenfold.

„I don’t believe in coincidences, Stole,“ Urko said amicably. „In my line of work, coincidences always line up to be attempts at covering up some bad, bad mistake you made. I give you a chance, Stole - _one_ chance - to step aside and let me do my work, and I promise you, whatever bad mistake your boss has made, I won’t let him drag you under with him. I’ll let you off the hook, Stole. I’ll round up everyone who is only marginally involved in this fuck-up, but you have my word that I’ll let you walk.“ He waited for a moment. „Better make up your mind now, Doctor, before that deal runs out.“

 _Don’t believe him! He’ll never let you go!_ Zana stood there, not daring to move or speak for fear Urko would recognize her; buried alive in her heavy plague garb and condemned to watch Stole make his lonely decision.

_If he steps aside now, I won’t even be able to run to the operation room to be arrested together with them._

„I’m sorry,“ Stole said, and Zana closed her eyes.

„But I cannot break emergency protocol. Not even for you, General. Not even if director Leander was breeding man-apes in there. Come back once we’ve determined that the infection is under control and poses no danger for the City.“

Urko took a step back, a quiet fury burning in his eyes that made Zana shiver. „I’ll be back sooner than that, Doctor - I’ll be back with a Council order, and then we’ll put up a few gallows in this yard.“

Stole just watched with her as the Gorilla mounted his horse and jerked the beast around and towards the gate. Gravel clattered against Zana’s heavy leather apron as his men spurred their horses on to follow their enraged commander from a safe distance.

As soon as the patrol was out of sight, Stole crumpled into the panicked intern from before. He whirled around to Zana and tore the mask from his face. „You heard what he said! He’ll be back before sunrise, and then we’ll hang!“

„I doubt that he’ll get that Council order as easily as he thinks,“ Zana remarked, „after Zaius just lost his human to that illness. I heard he was very fond of it - he had it for many years.“ She had known Semon, although she hadn’t interacted much with him; and it sickened her to know that someone had poisoned the poor creature.

„Anyway, we’ll be long gone by then,“ she assured the Chimp, „but I’d advise you to keep up appearances for another day or two. Even if it turns out that it was a false alarm, better safe than sorry, right?“ They turned to go inside.

„Urko will have the clinic watched,“ Stole said darkly. „He’ll hold up anyone who tries to leave.“

That was highly probable, Zana admitted to herself. Galen had bought a doctor’s wagon and stuffed it with herbs and leeches and other medical equipment, so that they would have a more permanent cover, and she was loathe to give that up. Besides, traveling in a cart would be so much easier for her, especially in the months to come...

„Then we better think of something,“ she said. „The City needs bright young surgeons like you, Stole. It would be a shame if your career ended three feet above the gravel, right?“

* * *

„Kova, clamp! No, there! I’m plugging his vein with my finger, Kova, how do you think I’m going to make a suture? With my teeth? Put it here! Good! Now clean up this mess so that I can see what I’m doing!“

Galen drew up Alan’s blood in the syringe, feeling it get heavy and warm in his hand as the metal conducted the blood’s heat outward. Hot and heavy and slippery in his bloodied hands. He pressed the plunger, and the blood shot into the bucket with a sickening, foamy sound.

So much blood.

„Doc, he’s not breathing, and his lips are blue!“

Kira’s hands were quickly sewing the springy tube of the blood vessel together. She didn’t even look up. „There’s a ventilation bag hanging on a hook behind you.“ They had inserted a metal tube into Alan’s throat after he had slipped into unconsciousness, to prevent his tongue from choking him, and the ventilation bag - which consisted essentially of a pig’s bladder and two wooden paddles - had a fitting tube at its end, so that even a layperson like Peet could operate it.

„That air won’t do it any good as long as its heart isn’t beating,“ Leander remarked. „What does your book say about _that?“_

For a moment, everyone froze.

Then Peet laid the ventilation bag on Alan’s unmoving chest, tilted the book, so that the block of pages fell over to reveal the first page, and began to read.

„I swear by Apollo the Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses...“

A hush fell over the operation room, as the human invoked gods of eons past; gods of healing, gods of science.

Gods of Man.

Galen felt a strange awe choke his throat. Kira’s was watching Peet’s face, her dark eyes unreadable.

“... I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant: that I will apply my measures for the benefit of the sick, according to my ability and judgment.“

Peet’s hands were shaking, and his voice was thick with emotion. He was pleading with them, Galen realized, pleading with them and with the forgotten gods of Man, to not let his friend die on this table.

Peet looked up at last; looked at Leander, who was regarding him, silent and unconcerned. “... and I will keep them... keep them from harm and injustice.“

He let the book fall on the table as if it had gotten too heavy for his grip.

Leander pursed his lips.

„There is tincture of belladonna in the cabinet behind you,“ he said. He gestured impatiently when Peet didn’t move. „What’s the matter? Are you waiting for your gods to sweep in and revive your companion’s heart?“

Peet blinked, then turned abruptly to the cabinet. „Which one? I can’t read your script...“

„Second to the right, the small octagon flask. - Here, doctor,“ Galen stared at the silver syringe that Leander had slapped into his hand, „I think it’s time to demonstrate that new protocol for blood transfusions that you’ve witnessed during your journey through the Iron Mountains.“ The surgeon didn’t wait to savour his shocked reaction; he took the flask with the belladonna tincture from Peet’s hands and carefully applied some drops under Alan’s tongue.

„Resume ventilation, boy. Doctor Kira, that vein won’t close up on its own. Doctor Kova, I suggest you start the transfusion now.“ Leander put his hands on Alan’s chest. „This pump is almost running dry, and I don’t want to exert myself for nothing.“

He started pressing down on Alan’s breastbone, and with that, the strange spell was broken; everyone moved at once, Peet inserting the ventilation bag into Alan’s mouth once more, Kira quickly drawing the cat gut through the punctured tissue. Galen moved to Arna’s side and flicked her an encouraging smile as he pulled the tourniquet tight around her arm.

„Don’t worry, girl,“ he murmured while he rubbed the crook of her arm with alcohol. „I won’t take much. You’ll get something to eat afterwards, and you’ll stay lying down for a bit and drink lots of water...“

„I don’t want to kill him with my blood,“ Arna whispered.

„I can assure you,“ Galen said grimly while he slowly retracted the plunger, „if Alan dies, it won’t be because of your blood.“ He threw a quick glance over his shoulder, where Leander was still massaging Alan’s heart. Peet interrupted his pumping to lay a finger at Alan’s throat.

„Still no pulse.“

* * *

Burke knew it was ridiculous, and actually, it was also damn embarrassing, but he just couldn’t help it; he pulled back the tarpaulin a bit. A slice of sunlight cut through the twilight inside the cart and gleamed off the white porcelain of the leeches jar. He’d have to change its water later. Burke suppressed a slight shiver.

„You’re okay in there?“

„’m fine.“

The voice was low, and the words had become more slurred with every time Al had to assure him that he was still alive; and yeah, he should leave the man alone already, but he just had to check. And check again.

Burke’s hands were still shaking every time he thought back to that moment in the operation room when the bastard had stopped breathing. Had stopped having a pulse. Galen had told him later that he’d gone gray around the eyes; that even his fingertips, that had been frantically searching for a pulse, had gone gray. Burke hadn’t noticed then, he’d been busy dying inside himself, but people under stress noticed the damndest things, so maybe Galen had really seen it.

Two days later, the crimson flags were still flapping in the breeze, sealing off the clinic to the outside world and killing Leander’s business. Well, better than killing the man himself, Burke supposed. Invoking a deadly plague had been a genius idea of Zana, but it had presented them with the problem of basically being under siege, and sneaking away with a horse and cart was a tiny bit more difficult than to crawl through the underbrush in the dead of the night.

They had no choice, though; Al wouldn’t crawl anywhere anytime soon.

„We should get the hell away from here, before Urko goes to check on his sentry,“ he said to Zana and nodded towards the main entrance, where Galen was chatting up Leander and Kira.

„Galen will be done in a moment,“ Zana assured him. From the corner of his eyes, Burke saw that she was studying his face; he pretended not to notice. „What happened to that sentry?“ she wanted to know.

He hesitated for a moment. Galen had sent him out to ‘take care of the problem’, knowing full well what that ‘taking care’ would entail. After his little run-in with Arna’s bully, the ape had probably decided that he was a vicious dog, and put him to use like one.

Zana... Zana still thought that he was civilized. That he could get better again. But she deserved the truth. „I cut his throat.“ He waited for a sharp inhale, or some half-muffled outcry, but nothing came.

When he finally turned his head to look at her, she gently laid a hand on his arm, and he consciously didn’t flinch away. „I’m so sorry, Peet,“ she said.

His throat was tight all of a sudden and he had no idea why. „We should go over and break up their little tea party,“ he said gruffly, „we really need to leave.“

She patted his arm. „You’re right, Peet, but before we do that, I wanted to give you something.“

It was small, and light, rolled into several layers of cloth and bound with a rough thread. He sent her a curious glance, but she just gestured for him to open it.

The little wooden chess knight rolled into the palm of his hand. Its contours blurred a little before his eyes, but his fingers knew its tiny nooks and crannies, the smooth curve of its neck, polished by his thumb that had stroked its mane uncounted times.

Katlin’s horse.

Katlin.

He cleared his throat. „Where’d... where’d you find it? I thought I’d lost it for good.“

„I found it at the spot where the bounty hunters had taken you captive,“ Zana said. She kept her voice and face carefully neutral. „I saved it for you, so I could give it back to you later.“

He closed his fist around the figurine, felt its edges bore into his flesh. He wasn’t sure he could keep his voice steady right now, but Zana saved him again, patting him on the arm once more.

This time, it was easier not to flinch.

„I wasn’t going to let them arrest Dr. Kira,“ Leander was saying when they came into hearing range. „We have a date tonight.“ Kira smiled faintly, but said nothing; she had her hands deep in the pockets of her lab coat.

„And besides, we are eagerly waiting for your translation of that book.“ Leander frowned. „What if they catch you on the road? General Urko is vicious.“

Everyone seemed to be on the same page about the gorilla, Burke thought; but nobody had found a way to get rid of him, for some reason.

„Don’t worry about that.“ Galen glanced at him, and Burke clenched his jaw and fought the urge to cast down his eyes. „My orderly has taken care of it.“

Suddenly he found himself scrutinized by two pairs of eyes, as Leander and Kira thoughtfully assessed him. „Yes, I heard it mentioned that you trained this one as a bodyguard,“ Leander said slowly. „A risky move, in my opinion... but up North, everything is a bit different, they say.“

Burke fervently wished that to be true. He needed something different from these folks here, something drastically different. He left the apes chatting among themselves and drifted to the edge of the building. Arna stood there, balancing her pitcher on her hip.

„Hey,“ he said. „How you feeling?“

Arna smiled shyly. „Fine. How is your friend?“

„Still breathing,“ Burke joked. „He’s fine, Arna,“ he added gently. „Your blood saved his life.“

The girl took a deep breath. „I’m so happy.“

„Yeah, me too.“ As much as he liked Zana, the thought of having to face this world alone, without the one human who understood what human life, human... _dignity_ really meant, was unbearable. Al shared his culture; they _got_ each other, the way nobody else, human or ape, would ever get them on this shithole of a planet. He smiled at Arna. „See, I told you - no curse.“

„My father told the others to call me Arna again,“ the girl confided. „He’s... he asked me to forgive him.“

Burke drew his lip through his teeth. „An’ did you?“

Arna stared at the ground, digging her toe into the gravel. „I know I should do it...“

„Who says that?“ Burke shrugged when she looked up to him, wide-eyed. „Yeah, I mean you could. Forgiveness is... is given, can’t be earned. But it’s also nothing that can be demanded. It’s yours to give, on your terms, in your time. If you’re not feeling it right now, don’t force yourself. You know, he hurt you a lot. Maybe you need a little more time to get well again first.“

Arna surprised him when she put down the pitcher and stepped forward to embrace him. „I hope you’ll get well again soon, Pete.“

Burke cautiously hugged her back. „What do you mean, princess?“

Arna looked up at him, her grey eyes sad and knowing. „How _you_ feeling?“

The air rushed out of his lungs with a sigh. All of a sudden, he was too tired to pretend. „Like I should crawl around on all four and howl at the moon.“

Arna squeezed her arms around him. „Don’t let them mess with your head, Pete. Watch the stars.“

He had no words; he just put his forehead to hers and held her tight, until Zana called out to him, and he had to go.

He jogged up to the wagon that was already rolling through the gate of the clinic, and pulled himself up to the passenger’s seat. „Let 'em run, doc. I want to see the mountains.“ Galen flicked the lines and urged the horses into a trot, and Burke turned around in his seat to look back a last time.

Arna was still standing at the corner, the morning sun in her hair. She waved at him. Burke waved back. Then the road made a bend and she was gone.

Burke turned around again to face the road, and stretched his legs. The day promised to be hot and humid again. Poor Al would have a hard time under the tarp. But he was alive, and they were on their way.

He looked up, and up, until his eyes found the horizon.


	7. Chapter 7

**2080  
**

Sally drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and fought to keep her foot lightly on the gas. It had taken some rigging and cursing to override the autopilot - she was too enraged to allow the damn car to take the reins today -, and she didn’t want to get caught speeding, especially since this wasn’t her own car, but belonged to the university.

Besides, she didn’t want to get delayed on her way to Hasslein.

She didn’t know who she wanted to kick more, him, or herself. Three years! What kind of mother was she, that she hadn’t suspected a thing for _three years?_

There were a lot of mitigating circumstances, but every time Sally went down the list, she couldn’t accept any of them. Yes, she had been working full time since Alan had gone missing, leaving at six in the morning, and coming home at ten in the night; yes, she did try to make up for it on the weekends, but Chris had holed up in his room even then, and she had just shrugged it off and blamed teenager hormones - moody teenager years, when you cherish your privacy, or resentment for her absence due to work, or depression over the loss of his father... everything but Hasslein.

It had begun to rain, and the computer was warning her that she was driving too fast for the weather with a constant whine, but Sally found it easy to ignore the machine; she was trying to remember what signs she had overlooked in all those years - signs that he had led a secret second life, in the thrall of that psychopath. She couldn’t find any.

Chris had taken care not to give her a reason to look more closely, hadn’t he? No complaints from his teachers: he had good grades - excellent grades in the MINT classes, especially; Sally grit her teeth at that thought. He dutifully took care of his little sister... although she now wondered how much of that he had pushed on a willing Gina, so he’d have the time to go to Hasslein... No problematic friends - had he friends at all?, no drinking, or speeding, or partying... Chris was completely trouble-free.

That alone should’ve alarmed her.

Somehow, she had failed as a mother; failed Chris.

Failed Alan.

Alan would’ve noticed. He had been such a keen observer, such a sensitive husband - he had always known when something had been bothering her, sometimes before she herself had become aware of it. Alan wouldn’t have left his son in the clutches of a dangerous narcissist for three years.

She angrily wiped the back of her hand over her eyes. Alan was dead. It was no use beating herself up over a fantasy of what he would think of her right now.

Besides, she couldn’t break down now. She had to collect her rage, and use it to crush that sonofabitch in his physics lab.

By the time she reached the gate of the ANSA facilities, Sally had recovered enough of her wrath to steamroll the guard’s attempt to turn her away for lack of clearance. „One of your employees has been meeting in secret with my son, on these grounds, and if you don’t want me to drag ANSA into the spotlight for ignoring the indecent conduct with a minor of one of their staff, you let me in and deal with that... person myself.“

In the end, she was issued a guard to accompany her - and probably protect Hasslein from bodily harm; Sally didn’t care. Let them think she was ready to use physical violence over legal action. Let them fear for their reputation, their budget, their _project._

Let them shake in their boots for daring to keep Hasslein after what he had done to the _Icarus’_ crew.

He had fooled them all, but what made _her_ shake, with rage, was that Hasslein had fooled _her,_ had sunk his claws into yet another Virdon man.

_You won’t get this one, you piece of filth!_

The guard ushered her to Hasslein’s office, assuring her that the professor wouldn’t be in the laboratory at this time of the day. Sally followed the man - if Hasslein wasn’t behind his desk, she could still hunt him down in the labs, no matter if she’d have to knock out her escort for that. With wild plans of grabbing the guard’s ID and his weapon flitting through her mind - not to kill Hasslein, just to make him squirm - she slammed her hand on the door plate. For once, she wished for an old-fashioned doorblade that one could smash against the wall while barging in. Sliding doors were way too civilized for her current mood.

Hasslein wasn’t surprised to see her. He didn’t even look up from his computer screen. „Ah, Mrs. Virdon. I had expected you much sooner. Please, sit down.“

Sally wavered for a moment. Taking the offered seat would be complying with the man’s request, but refusing would mean she’d stand before his desk like a student, while he stayed seated, and thus in a position of authority.

Grinding her teeth, she pulled out the chair and sat down.

Hasslein kept typing into his computer, his gaze fixed to the screen.

„You can either face me now, or face legal action,“ Sally said, cursing the tremble in her voice. Rage was rattling her arms, clenching her stomach.

Hasslein flicked her a cool glance, but didn’t stop typing. „As far as I’m aware, teaching physics is still legal in this state. I don’t know about Louisiana, though. But after twenty years, you should’ve acclimated here.“

„I’m talking about meeting with a minor without parental consent,“ Sally growled, ignoring the slight against her home state.

„I assure you, my interest in Chris is of a purely academical nature,“ Hasslein said blandly. „As he will confirm, should you drag him before a court.“

„It doesn’t matter _what_ you did in that laboratory, it only matters that you did it behind my back,“ Sally snapped. „I’m sure ANSA will love the media attention! They already cut your budget twice, they’ll be happy to have a reason to plug that money drain once and for all!“

She smiled grimly when Hasslein shut down the computer and turned towards her. _Did that get your attention now?_ „I’m keeping up with the news, professor. I wondered how long you would be able to string them along - after all, you managed to delude me with this fantasy for almost two years. Well, shame on me - I should’ve known better. But to rope in a _child -_ that’s low, even for you.“

„Since we’re speaking about new lows,“ Hasslein said evenly, „how about taking away the only chance of return for the _Icarus’_ crew to satisfy your very personal thirst for revenge, Mrs. Virdon? In case you forgot, it consists of more people than just your husband. I’m sure Mrs. Jones would be overjoyed to be reunited with her husband again.“

„Mrs. Jones has remarried,“ Sally said dryly.

„So naturally, she would feel indifferent about the fate of her former husband,“ Hasslein said, not missing a beat.

 _The only one indifferent about anyone’s fate but that of your pet project is you._ Aloud, Sally just said, „Let’s stop pretending, professor. You and I both know that the crew of the _Icarus_ is dead, ever since they vanished from the monitors five years ago.“

Saying it out loud still hurt, although she had practiced it every night before the bathroom mirror for three years now, looking her reflection straight in the eye while saying it. But right now, the pain was pleasantly dulled by her rage. She could look Hasslein in the eye and say it without flinching.

Hasslein raised a brow. „You _know_ that? Have you consulted with an oracle, Mrs. Virdon? Because scientifically speaking, there is no way to know what happened after the ship made its jump.“

„I won’t let myself get manipulated with fairy tales and false hopes again,“ Sally hissed. „And how _dare_ you take a child hostage of this illusionary hope?“

„Hope is always an illusion, since it pretends that a potentiality is an actuality,“ Hasslein said cooly. „But we’re not dealing with _hope_ here - my extrapolation has a firm basis in reality, and obviously, ANSA agrees with me, or they wouldn’t have provided the millions of dollars that this project will cost.“

„It was my _Bring Our Boys Home_ initiative that swayed public opinion - an initiative that _you_ had bribed me into conducting, bribed with nothing but hope!“ Sally rose, unable to stay still anymore. „I could kick myself every day for that idiocy!“

Hasslein leaned back in his seat and regarded her for a moment, and Sally tried not to feel as if she was an exotic particle trapped in a laser beam. „Have you really given up on your husband?“ he asked, and for once, his voice didn’t have the slightly sardonic undertone, as if he was conversing with an amusingly eloquent monkey.

And maybe it was the thoughtfulness in his voice that made her open up. „I had to move on, for the sake of my children,“ she said softly.

„Your lack of faith is regrettable,“ Hasslein said, and the dry, mocking tone was back in his voice, and Sally cursed herself for having fallen for his masquerade again.

„You don’t understand the first thing about faith, or love!“ She rounded his desk and loomed over him, fists clenched. The guard, alarmed at her sudden move, jogged after her and yanked her back. Then he began to drag her towards the door.

Sally dug her heels in and fought against the pull. „And the only thing you know about hope is how to use it to manipulate others to do your bidding! You’re such a _despicable_ creature!“

Hasslein rose and waved for the guard to release her. The man stopped pulling, but didn’t release her arm. Sally ignored the pain that his grip caused her; she was ablaze, only focused on Hasslein, who now slowly stepped around his desk, and casually leaned against its edge.

„Even if you have abandoned your husband,“ he said conversationally, „Chris hasn’t. Do you really think he’ll just ‘move on’ if this project gets shut down? Do you really think he’ll return into your arms, and love you as the one person responsible for cutting him off from his father for good?“

He smiled thinly at her silence. „Chris is fifteen; he’s too old to forget such a betrayal. Why do you think he didn’t let you in on his little secret? What does that say about his trust in you?“

Sally felt her throat tighten. _Don’t cry. Don’t cry in front of this monster._

„If you want to salvage your relationship with your son, you should start supporting him,“ Hasslein was saying.

„I can’t support this baiting,“ she said, and hated her choked voice. „That’s what you’re doing.“

Hasslein regarded her, no doubt taking in the sheen that covered her eyes and threatened to roll down her cheeks. „If you can’t support your son,“ he said finally, „at least don’t stand in his way.“

„Stand in _your_ way, you mean,“ Sally huffed.

Hasslein shook his head. „Do you even know how gifted your son is?“ he asked. „He could be the next Stephen Hawking, without the physical deficiency, of course.“

Sally gaped at him, too shocked by the man’s disrespect to come back with a retort immediately, but before she could say something, Hasslein continued.

„Independently from saving your husband, this project aims to save mankind from its own destructiveness. You’re on the frontlines of this war, Mrs. Virdon, tell me - how long until you have to inform the public that the plankton mass has dwindled - _globally -_ to a meager fifteen percent of its original amount from 2050, and that there’s no indication that the rate of destruction is slowing down? Do you think I’m unaware of the developments out there? How long until mass extinction arrives in the cities?“ He slightly shook his head. „This is the basis of the maritime food chain we’re talking here. Already, the higher rungs are starving off, and the fishermen all over the world return with empty nets.

„If we want to have any chance at survival, we need to get off this dying world, the sooner, the better. Think carefully if you want to throw that door shut for mankind, just to soothe your hurt pride. It’s the only door we have.“

He nodded to the guard then, and this time, Sally didn’t resist when the man led her outside.

She had lost - not just this battle, but the war. Chris wouldn’t stop seeing Hasslein; ANSA wouldn’t shut down the project. She should’ve noticed what was going on three years ago. While there still had been time to remove her son from this toxic man.

Helen had been right. Hasslein was a wizard, keeping them all enthralled with his magic, this inextricable tangle of truth and lies, threat and hope, despair and promise.

„Home,“ she told the autopilot; her sight was too blurred to drive herself.

She had lost Chris to Hasslein, just as surely as she had lost Alan to him back then, when he had followed the same poisoned vision of finding a new home for mankind.

But Sally was absolutely certain all of a sudden that there was no other home for man than the one he had devastated. God wouldn’t let them wiggle out of this responsibility. They would have to stay here and face the consequences. If Earth died, mankind would die with her, and deservedly so.

When she came home, and called for Chris to come down into the kitchen, he was slow to respond; and when he finally appeared, his expression was wary.

He dreaded her.

The two steps towards him seemed to span an incredibly long distance. When Sally had finally reached him, she threw her arms around his neck as if she would fall back into the abyss if she let go. He was already as tall as her, she noticed suddenly; soon he would be as tall as his father.

„Everything okay, Mom?“ he asked, as he hesitantly hugged her back.

She couldn’t answer; couldn’t tell him how much she loved him, because she was drowning in tears, and she couldn’t breathe.

And so they just stood in the kitchen, clinging to each other, while she cried her heart out for the family she had lost, and for all the lives that would soon perish, too.

 


End file.
